Te Quedaste
by luli27
Summary: Don't let the title scare you, the story is not in Spanish. It's sort of based on a Spanish song and it deals with Sam coming to terms with her feelings for Jack. Reposted after being beta it!
1. Chapter 1

**Te Quedaste**

**Disclaimer: **No, they're not mine.

**A/N:** This was my first SG1 fic and only my second fic ever and while you guys seemed to like it, I didn't have a beta and there were more than a few mistakes. A few years and more than ten stories later, I do have a beta and I've learned a lot about writing and I thought it was time to fix it up. So, my good friend Puppet, who's also my beta, went over it; she's never really seen SG1 before but she really enjoyed and have now became a fan and bought the dvds!! Hehehe, that's about the best compliment there is, isn't there? I added the prologue to make it a bit more intense, I hope you like it as much now as you did before. Please, let me know what you think!!

**Prologue**

Jack sighed as he laid down the pen he'd been fiddling with. He closed his eyes and let his head fall back onto the chair's headrest. The last few days had been beyond difficult. Between the replicators and Anubis attacks, Daniel disappearing and Jacob getting sick, Jack had more than his hands full – both professionally and personally. Command had never been harder and he'd only been base commander for a year.

He hadn't joined the Air Force for an easy life and he'd known accepting command of the SCG would only complicate an already complicated life. It hadn't been an easy decision to make, as he really wasn't ready to give up Gate travel; but he'd accepted it, because it was the right thing to do and because he wasn't a stranger to doing things that were hard.

Throughout his career, there'd been more than a few days when he had thought he couldn't go on, but he always had – in part, because Jack O'Neill was not a man to give up and in part, because he didn't know how to do anything else. He'd known accepting the promotion would bring more of those days but, foolishly, he'd thought that as time passed, it'd get easier. It hadn't; if anything, it'd only gotten harder. He felt more and more isolated every time he saw SG1 go through the Gate. Being SG1 commander hadn't exactly been easy but at least then, he'd had his team to back him up; as base commander he didn't really have anyone at his back.

Oh, the team was still there, willing to help him with anything, but it wasn't the same. He was no longer part of the team; no longer out there with them, fighting with them, protecting them. Instead, he was stuck behind this desk watching everyone else go through and fight for Earth while he filed and signed some of the most menial and inane forms along with some of the hardest and most life altering orders it had ever been his misfortune to give.

With another sigh, he rubbed his hands over his face and ordered his self to put those kinds of thoughts behind the door labeled 'later' – the room behind that particular door was pretty full, but there just never seemed to be enough hours in the day to deal with them. And if he sometimes actually looked for things to do to avoid dealing with them, well, that wasn't a crime, was it? With a grimace at the realization that he was now justifying his actions to himself, he dived back into the pool of paperwork that was his desk.

Sometime later, he might not like paperwork but he still got lost in it when it needed to be done, his concentration was broken by the ringing of the phone.

"O'Neill," he said into the phone, without putting down the report he was reading. A grin spread across his face when the caller identified himself. "George!" he said, as he dropped down his pen and placed his free hand behind his head, stretching backwards. "How the heck are you?"

"No, not really," he said, shaking his head a few moments later. "Just doing some paperwork, that's all. And you know me, any excuse to put it off is fine with me," he added with a chuckle. "So, what's up?"

Less than half an hour later, he very carefully set down the phone and tapped it once, before leaning back in his chair. Well, that had been . . . unexpected, to say the least. That option opened doors to possibilities he hadn't dared think about in years but which, much to his chagrin, had been brought up more than once in the last few days.

He'd thought that boat had sailed, so to speak. But apparently the events of the last few days had made Carter reconsider her decisions and she was now single once again. A state in which he also found himself again, since Kerry had decided it wasn't going to work between them. Not that he could blame her; she'd just had the courage to call a spade a spade, something he'd lacked.

The solution she'd offered to his dilemma, however, hadn't been a feasible one. Even if some days, retirement and his cabin in Minnesota beckoned him like the mythological sirens had beckoned sailors to their doom, he knew it wasn't a realistic option. He'd tried it before and he knew he'd be bored inside a month. That was if he didn't go crazy worrying about everything that could be going wrong without him, while knowing or being unable to do anything about it. And he had been a military man too long for him to be comfortable with the idea of running the SGC as a civilian.

But Hammond's news offered a possibility he'd never even thought of. And, he had to admit, it was a very tempting one. It wasn't perfect, but it was the closest he'd ever get to having his cake and eating it too – and they all knew how much Jack loved his cake!

But it would mean big changes, not only in his life, but in the lives of all those he loved. It wasn't a decision he could make without serious thinking. It also wasn't a decision he could make on his own. But before he could go talk to anyone about it, he had to decide what he wanted and what would be the best for everyone – for the SGC, SG1, himself and Sam.


	2. Chapter 2

**Te Quedaste**

**Disclaimer: **Still not mine.

**A/N: **_So, this was the first chapter; it's still the same just a more polished version. I'm keeping the original a/n cause I want to keep the fic as faithful as the original version as possible._ I was not planning on writing one at all, but as my mind was going over the many SG1 fics I've been reading this song was going on around my head at the same time (you know how that sometimes happens? you have two or more things going around and around at the same time?) and all of the sudden I thought that it fits what Sam feels for Jack, or at least what I would like Sam to feel for Jack. So, I just had to write it. I hope the fact that the song is in Spanish does not turn many people off, I've offered the translation and I think it works fairly well in both languages. Well, here it is!

**Chapter 1**

An overcast weekday afternoon found Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter flipping through the 100 plus channels that her cable company offered.

"Ugh, close to 200 channels and nothing good on." She muttered to herself, very close to throwing the remote at the nearest wall. Sam, as she liked to be called, was not in the best of moods. And the crappy weather was not responsible. It'd been less than a week since she'd broken off her engagement with Pete. And, while that could be the cause of her bad mood; it wasn't.

The fact of the matter was that she had called it off. After months of trying to convince everyone, her self included, that she loved Pete and wanted to spend the rest of her life with him; she finally had given up and admitted to herself, and everyone else, that while she loved Pete, she was not _in_ love with him. She was in love with the idea of being married and having a family, not the best basis for a marriage. So, while it had been incredibly hard to break up with him, because he _had_ loved her and she had broken _his_ heart, it hadn't been particularly painful.

No, the situation with Pete would never be one of Sam's favorites or best moments, but that was not what had her in such a bleak mood. To tell the truth, she wasn't sure what was root of her black mood. She was feeling so many things that it was hard to pinpoint any one source for her troubled thoughts, although, the death of her father was among them.

The truth, however, was that as sad as she was that he was gone and as much as she would miss him, she was incredibly glad that they had been able to have the last seven years together. Whatever else the Tok'ra may be, she would always be grateful to them for giving them the extra time. Without them, she would have lost him to cancer all those years ago without having ever known him as the caring, concerned, and involved parent that she always wanted but had never had until his blending. So, his death was in part responsible for the sad, melancholy feelings she was feeling. But that was not completely it, either.

Sam knew that if she spent more than five minutes thinking about why she was in the mood she was in, she'd figure it out. And that was the one thing she did not want to do. And if her know-it-all superior officer hadn't forced her to take two weeks downtime to take care of everything she needed to after her father's death and to come to grips with it, she could be in her labs working with some fascinating alien technology or trying to re-write the laws on psychics to take her mind off things.

But, no, he didn't think she was ready to go back to work quite yet; according to him, two days at her brother's after the funeral was not enough time to adjust to the death of a parent.

'Ugh, what does he know?' Sam muttered, annoyed. Whatever he knew or didn't know really wasn't the issue, he was her superior officer and she had to follow his orders. So, here she was - flipping through the channels trying to find something to interest her enough to keep her brain from going where it'd been trying to go for the past week. You'd think she'd be better at stopping her brain from going there; after all, she'd had almost eight years of practice. But for some reason all the tricks that she'd learned in that time didn't work anymore.

After she'd almost finished going through all the channels, for the third time in a row, something made her linger at a previously never seen before channel. It may have had something to do with the fact that this time around she was going slower and actually managed to hear a word or two of the program.

What caught her attention was that the words were in Spanish; not all that surprising since Spanish TV has been around for a while now. But this was an all Spanish music channel: MTVS. She'd never heard or seen it before, but, since she had never reached this high on the channel list, that didn't mean anything. And after thinking about it for a bit, she decided that it made sense to have an all Spanish music channel; there are a lot of people out there that speak Spanish.

Not everyone knew it, but Sam was one of them. Though she was nowhere close to being as good at languages as Daniel was, Sam was pretty good and was fluent in Spanish and French and knew enough not to be lost in various other languages. Because of her work, it was not often that she got to practice them; every once in a while she and Daniel would try and practice one of them, but he was always far more interested in learning alien languages and translating the artifacts they brought back to practice the more mundane foreign languages of Earth for more than an hour. But then, he didn't need to; the man was, after all, a genius when it came to languages and once he learned one, he pretty much never forgot it.

Sam, on the other hand, did need to practice, and she figured that this was a good way to do so. She may not be speaking it but hearing it would be just as good. She would have to force her brain to start thinking in Spanish so she could understand what was being said, one should never really translate when trying to speak or learn another language; that takes twice as long and you're never really learning the other language if you keep using your own as reference.

She decided that trying to think in Spanish would be a good way to occupy her brain. It took her a while to stop putting everything through an 'English filter' and to just hear and understand what was being said in Spanish without thinking in English first; and she missed quite a lot in the meantime. But she finally got to a point where hearing and understanding was immediate and English was not playing much of role.

And then the song that was to be the start of a chain reaction that would change her life came on. It was ironic; really, that the one thing she chose to keep her mind off things was the one thing that made everything so clear that she could no longer ignore it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Te Quedaste**

**Disclaimer: **Neither the song nor the characters are mine.

**A/N: **Again, this is basically the same chapter, just betaed by Puppet to flow much better. The lyrics are moved around a little but it works better this way, I had the song at the end of the chapter but for some reason I just wasn't able to upload it with them this time.

**Chapter 2**

While most people would have just laid back and let the music wash over them while they relaxed, Sam was paying as much attention as she would to an astrophysics lecture; but then, she wasn't most people. She had spent the first half hour trying to think in Spanish and understand what was being said with the same absorption and single-mindedness that she used when working on her lab.

After she got to a point where she was thinking in Spanish, more or less, she relaxed a bit and started to just enjoy the music. That only lasted about 20 minutes; she then got up to get something to eat, drink and to boot up her laptop so that she could research some of the songs she was hearing.

She was getting most of what was being said, but she wanted to be sure – besides she was used to working on incredibly complicated puzzles and just sitting around listening to music, even if it was in another language, was not challenging enough; half her mind was not engaged and had started to come up with all sort of ideas to better understand what she was listening to.

Sam was completely astounded by the variety of music that was being shown; everything from ballads to rock, rap and many different kinds of tropical dance music: salsa, merenge, some type of reggae and who knew what else. The lyrics were just as mixed, some were incredibly sweet and romantic while others bordered on the vulgar.

There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the order they were being shown; everything was mixed up together and presented to the public in all its chaotic glory. She had never realized how rich and diverse the Hispanic community was and she could not understand how something that was made up of so many different components could function as a cohesive community. Then, she thought that maybe it did not act as a cohesive community. That in turn led to another interesting thought to explore and research.

She was really enjoying all the theorizing and researching; what most people would have considered a chore, Sam saw as a most relaxing past-time. She was in the middle of setting new parameters for a new search and was just about done reading the lyrics for some very good songs, when she heard it.

It started as a very nice, soft melody. She figured it'd be a ballad and she looked up to pay attention and see if she'd like it. She had started to ignore some of the more dance type, vulgar songs that were not really her type. She'd gotten to where she decided if she wanted to pay attention within the first thirty seconds of a song.

For this particular song, she looked up with a half smile on her face and started to listen, half nodding her head since the music was soft and appealing. The first line was catchy and reeled her in, and by the end of the fourth line she was hooked. By the end of the chorus, her half smile had disappeared, her eyes were as wide as saucers, her mouth was wide open and her hands had fallen from the keyboard of her laptop and were now gripping its edge.

She could do nothing but sit and listen to the song. By the time the song was coming to an end, she was as still as a statue, the only thing moving were her eyes and these only moved to the bottom left of the screen so that she could read the artist and song's name. After she memorized the song's name and artist, she just sat there staring vacantly at the screen for who knew how long until she finally shook her head and looked down at the laptop where she googled it.

She used a cable internet connection and was able to get to the song's lyrics within seconds of starting the search. But once she got there, she once again stared vacantly at the screen for a few minutes before she took a big breath and started to scroll down and read the lyrics. She read them thru three times to make sure that what she thought the song said was actually what it said.

After she read them the third time, she once again sat there looking at nothing for another chunk of time. Until she suddenly put the laptop down on the coffee table and got up from the couch. She walked determinedly towards the kitchen; once there, she stopped and looked around looking for something . . . what she didn't know.

After a few seconds she stopped and muttered a strong 'Enough!' After saying that, she walked back to the living room. She walked to the edge of the coffee table and looked at the laptop's screen for a few seconds. She was tempted to call Daniel and have him translate the song so that she was sure about what it said.

She reached for the phone but stopped before touching it, with a sigh she realized that it really didn't matter what the literal translation of the song was. With another sigh she flopped down on the couch and turned off the TV; she wouldn't be watching it anymore - there wasn't anything distracting enough in this world, or in any other for that matter, that would stop her from thinking about this now.

She looked at the song's lyrics again and shaking her head she once again thought that it really didn't matter what the song said; what mattered was what she thought it said. Even if she was wrong and the song said something totally different, which she wasn't and it didn't, the cat had been let out of the bag, so to speak, or in this case her feelings had been let out.

She couldn't believe that someone, somewhere had been able to lay out her feelings so clearly – and in another language at that! (What was really unbelievable, was that she'd actually heard the song and understood it). 'How can someone who doesn't know us explain my feelings and our relationship so perfectly, when I've never been able to', she wondered.

Of course the fact that she'd run and hid from doing any sort of analysis of her feelings and their relationship might have something to do with it, she couldn't help but think with a grimace. She'd spent quite a bit of time and energy in the past few years _not_ looking into her feelings for the then Colonel.

The few times that she'd tried and put them into words, she'd found them so overwhelming that she'd quickly stopped trying. The same thing happened the few times she'd felt brave enough to try and define their relationship – she found it so complicated and complex that even she, who usually thrived on the complicated and complex, decided to leave well enough alone.

But now those feelings were out, and she found that she no longer had the strength or the will to run, hide or try and ignore her feelings towards and her relationship with General Jack O'Neill. With a sigh, she leaned her head onto the couch's back and finally gave in and for the first time admitted, in words, that she's in love with the General.

Oh, she'd always known that she loved him, and she'd even known that she was in love with him, but she had never actually said it, not to anyone, not even in her head, not with words – she had never thought to herself "I'm in love with Jack O'Neill", not once. It was something her subconscious knew but that she had never vocalized. In fact, she had gone to great lengths to not vocalize it. It had been easier that way.

But today most of her defenses were down. It had been an incredibly tiring few days. It felt like her whole life had been turned upside down, and most of what she had once considered absolute certainties, were no longer there. The only thing that had stayed true was him and their feelings for one another – even if they had never been verbalized.

They were there, they were true and they were real, perhaps, the most true and real thing in the whole world. While all the obstacles that had been between them before were still there, they somehow didn't seem as important or as impossible to surmount as they had seemed just two short weeks ago. How could they when compared to the mortality of all humans? How could rules and regulations be considered the ultimate arbiter on who a person could or should love when we could all cease to be from one moment to the next?

The only certain thing in life was that we all die; it may be a cliché, but it was still true – and oh, God, it had never _felt_ more true that in the last few days. At first it had seemed weird to her that given her job and all that she'd seen in the last few years, it was only now that she was truly coming to grips with her own mortality.

After she thought about it, however, she realized that it made sense; in a very real sense SG1 had been spoiled. True, they'd had more brushes with death than just about anyone she could think of, but they had all somehow or another beaten the odds. Even when Daniel died, they'd all known he wasn't really dead, and he had been back within a year.

They'd all died at one time or another and somehow had always been able to come back. After a while, without knowing it, they had started to see death as, not so permanent a thing after all. That was until Janet. The one person that rarely went off-world was the one person that died off-world and that hadn't come back. That was when Sam had started to understand that as lucky as they had all seemed to be, they weren't exempt from death and that sooner or later, they would all die one last time.

Her father's death and the scare with the replicators were what really brought it home. By all rights her father should have outlived not only her, but her children and their children. The To'kra were supposed to live for hundreds of years. He was the one person that she least worried about dying. And like Janet, he was one of the first to go.

Less than a day later, she had inputted the self-destruct code for the base. Only a miracle had saved them that time. And while they seem to have once again beaten the odds, with Daniel coming back from certain death courtesy of 'glowy travels' again, this time she just couldn't seem to shake it off as easily. She was very conscious, for the first time in a long time, of their mortality and of how easy it was for life to just simply stop. But before she died, she wanted to live - to really live; to have a family and share a lifetime with the man she loved and not just settled for a man who loved her.

While all these thoughts were going around in her head, she once again looked at the song's lyrics. It was a heartbreakingly beautiful song; it spoke of love and loss – it was essentially a goodbye song. And she realized that, with all that she'd been through these last few days, it wasn't so surprising that it had affected as strongly as it had. She was still amazed, however, at how much it fit her relationship with the General and at how well it described her feelings for him. She leaned forward to touch the words as she thought of how they described the different aspects of her relationship with the man that had held her heart for the last eight years.

Porque llenaste mi sonrisa con tus besos.../_Because you filled my smile with your kisses_

Y me enseñaste a nadar en tu mar/ _and you taught me _UU1 _to swim in your sea_

While she and General O'Neill did not have the type of relationship that included kissing, there was no denying that he had been the source of most of her smiles for the past 8 years. In fact, on more than one occasion had seemed as if his sole purpose in life was to make her smile.

There was also no denying that she was the commanding officer she was today because of him. From him she learned that a real commanding officer was someone who cared for the welfare of her team as much as, if not more, than she cared about the rules; that a real officer would carry out her orders without sacrificing her humanity or integrity; that a real officer would sacrifice her own life before sacrificing the lives of innocent bystanders; that a real officer would look at the big picture and would to be best of her ability, carry out her orders and the spirit of those orders, even if in so doing she disobeyed direct orders.

In short, he had taught her that a real officer was not necessarily always a _good_ officer but someone who knew the rules and was not scared to break them when there were more important issues at stake.

Porque tu modo de mirar fue mas que eso.../_Because your way of looking at me was more than that_

Fue nuestra forma de hablar/_it was our way of talking_

Over the years, all of SG1 had become incredibly proficient in the art of non-verbal communication. In fact, most of the SGC was convinced that they had developed some form of telepathy between themselves. But the reason they could communicate without words most of the time was because they knew each other inside out, to the point where one could predict how the others would react to different situations.

And while all four shared that ability, something that no doubt had its origins in their depending on each other for their lives and strengthened by their genuine love for one another, the bond that existed between Sam and Jack was different than the bond that existed between them and T'ealc and Daniel. It wasn't any less strong or important, but it was more . . . intimate.

The bonds that both Sam and Jack shared with T'ealc and Daniel were more filial in nature, while the bond they shared with each other was not. They were able to communicate things to each other in seconds, in everything from fleeting glances that no one else noticed, to searching stares that blocked out the world around them. And no one, not even Daniel and T'ealc, could quite understand even a fraction of what was being communicated between them.

They had their own private way of talking that no one could interfere with. It was something exclusive to the two of them and no matter how many times a day it occurred, every time she met his eyes and saw a message meant only for her, she melted inside. Those glances and stares had pulled her through some of the most difficult times of her life; whenever a situation looked hopeless – and let's face it, that happened on a fairly regular basis – she only had to turn to meet his eyes to know that everything would be alright.

One look into his eyes would not only let her know everything would be fine, it also showed her everything he felt for her; it showed his confidence in her abilities when her own was waning, it showed his pride in her for having pulled another miraculous save, and it showed the love he felt for her but could never express any other way.

Porque al pensar en el pasado/_Because when thinking of the past_

Sabre que nunca has dejado este lugar, jamas/_I'll know that you have never left this place, never_

Looking back at the past few years, Sam realized that no matter where they'd gone or what they'd done, a part of both of them had stayed locked up in isolation room 5 with all the feelings they had agreed never to mention. It was now painfully obvious to her that they had never really left that room behind.

They had tried to go on with their lives, to move on; recent events were proof enough that they had really tried. But then, recent events were also proof enough of just how soundly they'd failed. And how could they have been successful when they had left the best part of themselves locked up in that room? No relationship could possibly work when the heart of one of the parties was otherwise engaged, or in this case, locked up with some one else's.

Locking up those feelings might have been necessary, though she was no longer sure why that had been the case, but the truth of the matter was that by locking them up, they had pretty much condemned themselves to never moving on, to never having a personal life.

They'd done their best to be professionals; that was what they were good at – both of their professional lives were thriving; their personal lives, however, had stagnated, because neither had been able to leave that room. What she now realized was that they never would - if they didn't leave it together.

Por todo lo que he encontrado/_Becase of everything I've found, _

Te llevo siempre a mi lado/_I always carried next you to me._UU2

In the past eight years Sam had seen and experienced things that defied the imagination of the most creative person on earth, and the most amazing thing was that she had been able to share those experiences with the people that meant the most to her.

For seven years she had gone off world with then-Colonel O'Neill and had been able to experience the wonders of the universe with him at her side. And while he was no longer able to go off world on a regular basis, his impact on her life had been such that he didn't need to be physically there for her to feel him with her. She carried with her everything he had ever taught her and everything he felt for her and that was enough to feel his presence next to her wherever she happened to be.

Porque tus manos dibujaron mis deseos/_Because your hands drew my desires_

Y me dejaron soñar aun mas/_And let me dream even more_

Her greatest wish had always been to travel through the stars and while General O'Neill hadn't been responsible for granting that wish in the first place, he had been instrumental in her achieving so much more than she could have ever dreamed.

It was his support and confidence in her abilities that had allowed her to accomplish every single physics-defying 'miracle' that had ultimately saved the day. Whenever her confidence had waned and she had started to think that she couldn't do it, that there was no way out, it was him that would lift her spirits, him that would make her believe in herself again.

His endless confidence in her, while scary at times, had been as responsible for every solution she'd ever come up with as her innate intelligence; without it she was sure she would not have been able to accomplish half of what she'd done. His reliance on her intelligence and on her ability to pull another save 'out of her ass' had only made her push herself to places she had never image herself capable of.

If it hadn't been for his unshakable belief in her, she would never have dreamed of insane ideas like blowing up suns, let alone think that she could actually do them and then go ahead and accomplish them. It was because of him that all her desires had come true and thanks to him that her imagination had been set free, allowing her to come up with even wilder dreams – dreams that he had then helped her realized.

Porque supiste alimentar mis sentimientos/_Because you knew how to feed my emotions_

Con una entera complicidad/_with entire complicity_

Just as he'd always made sure that her body was well fed and rested, he'd also fed her soul and spirit. It was him who was always there with encouragement and support, who was always trying to make her smile and laugh, who was always trying to lighten moments when it would have been so easy to give into despair.

He was the one who encouraged her childish, mischievous side to emerge, who enjoyed her smart ass responses and who never reprimanded her for speaking her mind. He'd not only allowed her imagination to take flight, he had also encouraged her to be more than just a trained soldier and a brilliant astrophysicist, to live life to the fullest and to enjoy the moments for what they were.

He had always encouraged her to see and appreciate the beauty and 'coolness' of the different phenomenon they'd witnessed and to not get lost in the scientific explanation. He had shown her, or tried to, that there was more to life than just work; with him the simple act of eating a cup of jell-o became a pleasure to be treasured. And by showing her the world outside her lab, he had not only expanded her horizons he had also allowed her to gain a new appreciation for and perspective of her work.

Porque te quedaste en mi/_Because you stayed in me, _

Es que puedo vivir, ahora se lo que es ser feliz/_is that I can live, now I know what it is to be happy_

Porque me he quedado en ti/_because I stayed in you, _

Puedo verte partir y ahora puedo decir/_I can see you leave and now I can say_

Que si de amor he aprendido tanto/_That if I've learned so much of love_

Fue gracias a ti/_it was thanks to you_

As it was true with most songs, the chorus was the most compelling and hit Sam the hardest. She couldn't help but think how true the words were when it came to her feelings for General O'Neill. It _was_ because of him, because he'd been a part of her life, because he was _still_ a part of her life that she knew what it was to live and what it was to be happy. She could actually say that now, after having been with Pete.

She'd honestly loved Pete and she'd been happy with him. But she hadn't been in love with him and the only reason she'd known that she was happy with Pete was because in some ways Pete reminded her of how _General O'Neill_ made her feel. Ultimately, however, how Pete made her feel was only a pale shadow of the feelings the General engendered in her and that realization, as much as anything else, had led her to call off her engagement.

As her father had implied, Sam had _not _been completely happy with Pete - she couldn't have been because she was _not_ in love with him. It had nothing to do with what Pete did or didn't do; it just hadn't happen and when Sam finally accepted that, she had no choice but to call the wedding off. So, yes, even if it had taken Pete to make her realize it, Sam knew what it was to be happy because General O'Neill had shown it to her.

But as beautiful and as accurate as whole the song was, it was the next line that really touched Sam. It was the possibility of it becoming true that tormented her. She could clearly imagine what it would feel to see him leave her life; whether it because of another post, another person or because of death - it didn't really matter. The events of the last few days had only shown how real the possibility of another woman was, much more real than she would or could have ever thought possible.

But as real as that possibility might be, given their line of work, the possibility of him dying was just that much more likely. And as true as it was that whatever she knew of love was due to him, she didn't want to acknowledge that fact after he was gone. She didn't want to get to a point in her life where she had to thank the love of her life for teaching her how to love and tell him goodbye at the same time. She didn't want to look back on her life and regret any part of it, as she knew she would if that eventuality were to come true.

Because as beautiful as that sentiment was, she'd much rather thank the General for everything he'd taught her at the same time as she was pledging her love for him. She would like the time when they finally acknowledged their love - or at least, when she acknowledged her love, - to be one of beginnings and not endings. She didn't want to be gracious and let the love of her life go; heck she was a soldier, she'd fought for the freedom and happiness of countless worlds, wasn't it only fair that she'd fight for hers too?

If the only thing certain in life was that we all die, then we should do everything within our power to make sure that whatever time we have on earth was spent it as happy as possible. To heck with everything that stood in her way. She deserved to be happy and she deserved to be happy now and not at some undetermined point in the future, which might not ever arrive.

She just refused to allow for the possibility that she would have to one day say 'thank you and goodbye' without having lived and experienced the reality of being in love with Jack O'Neill. She just wouldn't accept it; and with that thought in mind, Sam got the look in her eye that any of her SG1 teammates would know - the one that said she had a goal and a plan to achieved that goal and God help anyone that stood between her and said goal. With an almost evil smirk, Sam thought to herself 'watch out Jack O'Neill, here I come.'

* * *

Song's Te Quedaste by Ha-Ash


	4. Chapter 4

**Te Quedaste**

**Disclaimer: **Nope, still not mine.

**A/N:** Again, same chapter just much improved!!

**Chapter 3**

It took Sam about ten minutes to get ready to go to general's house. She debated for about two minutes whether or not she should dress up, wear more makeup and maybe a dress and heels. But in the end she decided to just spruce up a little. After all, it wasn't as if he hadn't seen at her worst; in fact he was more used to seeing her in her BDU's than in a dress.

Though that could be an argument to dress up, she wanted to feel comfortable and wanted to go as herself. And that meant jeans and a shirt; she did, however, change into a better fitting blue shirt that brought out her eyes. She also spent about five minutes applying a bit of makeup, enough to highlight her best features without making her look too made up.

After looking at herself in the mirror, and deciding that that was as good as it got, she got her purse, coat and keys and headed for the door. Just as she was about to open the door she remembered that this was not the first time that she had intended to have this talk with the General. She also remembered who it had been that had interrupted them that time.

Without thinking about it twice, she did an about face from the door and headed for the telephone. She had picked up the handset and had dialed the number before she even thought about what she was going to say. By the time she realized that it was too late, the phone had already been picked up on the other end.

"Dr. Jackson."

After a few seconds of silence, Sam got it together enough to say, "Hey, Daniel, it's Sam."

"Hey Sam, how are you? I was just thinking about you," Daniel said and Sam could imagine him holding the phone between his chin and shoulder while he shuffled through his papers.

"I'm fine, thanks," Sam replied with a small smile.

"Are you sure?" he pressed.

"Yes, I'm sure. Thanks for asking," she answered, sincerely.

"That's what friends are for," he said and she could hear the shrug in his voice.

"I know. Hey, what are you doing tonight?" she asked, wounding the phone cord around her finger.

"Nothing much, I thought I'd tried and catch up here at work. Why? Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm fine; I don't need anything. Have you seen the General?" she finally asked what she wanted to know.

"The last time I saw him he was in his office whining and moaning about the mountain of paperwork he still had to do before he could go for the day. Why? Couldn't you get him at his office? You know he was talking about us maybe going by your place later on to see how you were doing," Daniel informed her as he flopped down on his chair and changed the phone from one ear to the other.

"I just need to talk to him, that's all. But I think it'd be better if I talk to him at his house," Sam told him, shifting from foot to foot.

"So, it wouldn't be a good idea to go by your place tonight, then? He asked, going still at the note he could hear in her voice.

"No, not really," she answered.

"Well, I'm not sure what time he'd be able to get out of this place. But I'm sure that if you tell him you need to talk to him he'd make sure to leave early," Daniel proposed.

"No, that's not necessary. I'll just wait until he's home. But do you think you could do me a favor?" She asked.

"Sure, what is it?" he answered as he leaned back on his chair.

"Could you make sure not to call him tonight, unless it's a matter of life and death or it involves the fate of the world?" she asked, going against her instincts to ensure she'd have the privacy she needed.

Daniel Jackson was a very perceptive guy and thus had no problem figuring out what Sam wanted to talk to Jack about. Of course after knowing the parties in question for over eight years, it did not require much prowess in perception to figure it out. At any other time he would have loved teasing Sam about it, but after the last few difficult days, Daniel decided to let it go – much as it pained him to let such a golden opportunity pass by.

"Sure, no problem," he answered. "Like I said, I'll just bury myself in my lab; no one will hear anything from me for hours."

"Thanks Daniel. I really appreciate it."

"No problem, Sam. I'm happy to help." And then because Sam and Jack were two of his best friends, and because, let's face it he loved to gossip, he offered further help. "Hey, Sam do you want me to go to the control room and tell Walter that Jack is not to be disturbed after he's left for home, unless it's a matter of national security? And then I could go see if I can hurry Jack home?"

She knew from the offer that Daniel had a pretty good idea what it was that she was going to talk to the general about; she also knew that if she accepted it then Walter would also know. That meant that the base's grapevine would probably pick it up pretty soon. But to her surprise, she found that she didn't really care. So, she accepted. "Yes, Daniel, that would be nice."

"Ok, no problem. I'd go do that right now, then," Daniel said, enthusiastically.

"Thanks again, Daniel," Sam repeated. "Bye."

"No problem, Sam. I'll see later," he said and then very seriously, added, "and Sam, good luck."

Sam heard him but decided there was not much she could say in answer so she just hung up.

Daniel knew she'd heard him and, her hanging up instead of answering and asking what he was talking about, was all the confirmation he needed. He had a great, big, goofy smile when he hung up. He kept it while he saved the work he'd done and while he walked down to the control room.

It was such a goofy smile that everyone he passed in the corridors looked at him as if he had two heads. Of course, this was Dr. Jackson. And everyone knew that he had a penchant for coming back from the dead, so everyone who saw him just shook their heads and chalked it up to one more eccentricity of the weird archeologist.

When he got to the control room, he went straight to Walter and, slapping the Sgt. on the shoulder he told him, "Walter, my man, have I got news for you. . ."

Walter looked up at Daniel and saw the same smile that everyone else had seen. At first it freaked him out but as he heard what Daniel was saying, and more importantly what he _wasn't_ saying but was _implying_, the Sgt. felt his smile grow until it had the same goofy proportions as the archeologist's.

"Daniel Jackson, are you Ok?" Teal'c asked. He had come to the control room to ask Walter about a memo he had not received. On the way, he had met quite a few people that had asked him if there was anything going on with his friend, since they couldn't recall having ever seen him wear such a big smile.

The Jaffa had thought that most were just exaggerating, as the Tauri were known to do. However, he was forced to agree that they had not, in fact, been exaggerating. The smile Daniel Jackson was sporting was indeed one of the biggest (and privately Teal'c conceded, also probably the goofiest) that he had ever seen on his friend's face.

Daniel turned his head when he heard his name being called. When he saw Teal'c he walked up to him and, oblivious to the consternation his smile was causing, proceeded to tell him the same story he had just finished telling Walter.

Teal'c, being Teal'c, did not end up sporting the same goofy smile as the two humans. He did, however, for a brief moment wear a genuine, honest to God smile, before his face settled into the more familiar almost-but-not-quite-smile with a rarely seen twinkle in his eyes. Brief as the smile was, it had the same effect as Daniel's goofy smile for those who saw it. He summed up his feelings with a quiet, "that is a most pleasant piece of news, Daniel Jackson."

To which Daniel could only reply, "Indeed it is, my friend, indeed it is." After sharing another grin with Walter at having stolen Teal'c's favorite phrase, Daniel rubbed his hands together and announced, "Well, I'd better go and see what Jack's doing. Coming, Teal'c?"

"Yes, I am Daniel Jackson." And after inclining his head, he turned to follow Daniel up the stairs that would lead them to the office of Gen. Jack O'Neill.

As Daniel walked to Jack's office, he was thinking 'now, what the heck am I going to say to him to get him to go home?' As he was almost at Jack's door he decided, with an inner shrug, 'ah, I'll just wing it.'

After barely knocking on Jack's door, Daniel sauntered inside and sat in the chair in front of Jack's desk. "Hey, Jack what's up?"

Jack had looked up when he heard Daniel's knock and had raised his eyebrows as Daniel sat down without waiting for Jack to give him permission. "Nothing much, Daniel, just work. And you?"

"Oh, you know same old, same old."

"Yeah, I know." Jack looked at Daniel and Daniel looked at Jack. Then Jack looked at Teal'c, who had come in after Daniel and was standing behind his chair, and Teal'c looked at Jack – with the requisite raised eyebrow.

After a few moments of everyone looking at each other in silence Jack said, "So, was there a point to this little visit? Or did you just want to look at my face?"

"Oh, nothing. We just thought we'd come around and see how you were doing since it's been about, oh I don't know, three hours since you stopped by my lab. Figured I'd come by to check and see if everything was ok. You usually stop by more frequently."

"Everything's fine, Daniel," Jack answered with a shrug. "I've just been busy doing my job, you know; unlike some people, apparently."

"Hey, Jack. You know I do my job. I just thought I'd take a little break, that's all," Daniel defended himself.

"Uh, uhh. Ok, well, if that's all I'll just get back to this, shall I?" Jack asked, gesturing to the desk full of paperwork.

"You know Jack," Daniel commented as he shifted on his seat and pushed his glasses further up his nose, "maybe you should go home; you look kind of tired."

Jack just stared at Daniel for a few seconds before he threw his pen on top of the paperwork and leaned back in his chair. "Ok, just what is going on here?"

"Nothing's going on. Why do you ask?" Daniel asked in his most innocent voice.

"Ah, well let's see. Maybe, because you came to see me for no reason at all? Or maybe because the poster boy for workaholics is all of the sudden telling me that I should take off early? You don't think there's anything weird with that picture?" Jack asked in his most sarcastic tone of voice.

Daniel tried to keep his most innocent face on, but he knew that he'd better leave soon or the game would be up. "No, I don't see anything remotely weird in friends coming to their friend's office to visit said friend and telling him he looks tired and should rest. Do you Teal'c?"

"Indeed I do not, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c replied with his most serious face and his eyebrow raised, in other words basically his everyday face.

Jack looked at both of them for a while but could see nothing amiss in either of their faces; it seemed that for once, Daniel was able to keep his innocent face on and pull one over on Jack. He sighed and gave up.

"Ok, I'll take this at face value because, you're right, I am tired." Jack looked at all the paperwork he still had to do and sighed once more and then he decided 'what the hell.'

"You know what, Daniel? For once I'm going to take your advice. There's nothing here that won't hold on until tomorrow so I'm just going to go on home." With that he pushed his chair back from the desk and got up. "You guys want to walk me to the elevator?" he asked them as he started to gather his things.

"You're not going to change to civies, Jack?" Daniel asked him, as he and Teal'c followed him out of his office.

"Nah, don't feel like it, too tired. And it's not like I absolutely have to. I'm the General, you know? Who's going to reprimand me?"

"No one, I guess." The walk to the elevator was spent talking about everyday things about the SGC. Once they got to the elevator, Daniel said, "Well, have fun, Jack."

Jack looked at him strangely and sarcastically replied, "Yeah, Daniel, I'm sure I'll have tons of fun having dinner by myself and going to bed early."

Daniel just smiled mysteriously and just as the elevator's door were closing said slyly, "You just never know, Jack."

The doors closed too fast for Jack to react, but it did give him something to think about on the drive home: just what had gotten into the archeologist now, hopefully not a side effect of too many ascensions.


	5. Chapter 5

**Te Quedaste**

**Disclaimer: **Nope, still not mine

**A/N: **Well, here's the first part of the talk; hope you like the improved version as much as the original. Let me know what you think!!

**Chapter 4**

Jack was _really_ tired. He hadn't been able to get much sleep in the last few days; if it hadn't been one thing, it had been another. First the whole replicator scare and Daniel going missing, then a week later Carter's dad dying and the whole crisis with Anubis and Daniel (who Jack was now totally convinced had more lives than a cat) coming back from the dead _again. _

That's not even mentioning all the paperwork that came with each and everyone of the crises. That was the one thing about being the General that Jack could do without, well one of the many, many things really, all the damn never-ending paperwork. Sure as a Colonel he'd had paperwork, but it was nothing compared to the mountains that he had to go through as a General and it seemed as if every crisis just made the mountain bigger. Really, who the hell could keep up?

Usually Jack was a man that was hyper aware of his surroundings, but being almost brain-dead from exhaustion can dull a man's perception, and as it was just explained, tonight Jack was really, really tired. Thus, he failed to notice that Sam's car was parked two doors down from his house.

Jack's failure to see Sam's car meant that Sam still had the element of surprise. She had debated whether it was fair to spring this on him like this, without any warning but had decided that all was fair in love and war and as Jack had taught her, there really was nothing better than a surprise attack to catch the enemy with its guard down. And since she knew she would need every advantage she could get if she was to win this war, having Jack with his guard down was a necessity.

For a moment, she was somewhat disturbed by all the military terms she was using and how she was planning this as if it were a campaign against an enemy but then she dismissed those thoughts. After all she _was_ career military; that was her life's work; how else was she supposed to think? Besides, she just knew that were he to know it, Jack would be vastly amused to know how meticulously she had planned his downfall (after he got over being taken down, of course).

Sam was lying down on the sofa listening to music when she heard Jack's car in the driveway. She sat up and turned off the radio and then waited for him to enter the house with the lights off. She didn't want to give him any indication that she was inside his house.

All Jack wanted when he entered his house was a beer and maybe a sandwich while he watched some TV and then crash down for however many hours he had before he had to get up to go back to work. He hoped to be tired enough that night to be able to sleep, instead of spending the night worrying about Carter and wondering when the next, inevitable crisis would hit the SGC.

That was another thing about being General he didn't like, he never used to worry too much about crap like that. Well, he always worried about Carter, and the rest of the team for that matter; but he didn't used to worry about the next crisis, having nightmares about the last ones had been his thing. Now, he didn't need past crises to keep him awake, his imagination was doing a wonderful job of that by coming up with one ghastly scenario after the other. God, being in command really was as a bitch.

Jack was so out of it that night that he didn't notice Sam until he was almost in the kitchen and then only because she called out.

"Hey," she said from her seat on the couch.

At the sound of her voice, he turned around, reaching for his gun – which he didn't have because he didn't usually carry a weapon when on base. When he saw who it was, he relaxed.

"Jeez, Carter, you want to give me a heart attack here?" he asked with a frown as he turned on the light and walked a few steps towards her.

"No. I'd have thought you would have noticed me by now," she answered with a shrug.

"Yeah, well. Ordinarily I would have, guess I'm a little distracted tonight," he defended himself, raking his fingers through his hair.

"Then I guess it was a good thing that it was me that broke in and not someone else, then, huh?" she asked with a small grin.

"Yeah, I guess," was the half-shrugging agreement. "Not, that I'm not glad to see you, but what are you doing here?" He asked, as he continued into the kitchen to get that beer he'd been wanting. "You wanna a beer?"

"No, thank you. As to why I am here, I just wanted to talk to you but didn't feel like going to the base. I didn't think you'd mind if I waited for you here?" Though it was a statement, it came out as a question.

"No, of course not, you're always welcome here, you know that." Jack responded as he came back into the living room and sat down next to her but leaving a few inches in between.

"Yeah." As much as Sam had to say, she didn't have the first clue as to how to begin. So, she fell silent and tried and organized her thoughts. It was something she'd been trying to do for the past few hours and hadn't been able to, so it was very doubtful she'd be able to do it in the next few minutes; but hey, she was nothing if not optimistic.

Jack, thinking that she was thinking about her father and that that was the reason for her visit, decided to begin with an innocent enough question, "So, how're you doing?"

"I'm fine, thanks," was the standard answer.

"You sure? You know there's no shame in admitting that you're sad. And it's better to let these things out than to let them fester inside," he added with a self-directed frown.

"Believe me, I know. It won't do anyone any good if you make yourself sick by keeping it all inside."

"No, really. I'm fine." At his not so sure look, she decided to be completely honest. "Ok, it is harder than I'd thought it was going to be. I mean I've gone months without seen him before, but now . . . I don't know, I guess, it is just knowing that I won't see him ever again that gets to me, you know?"

Jack nodded his head, "Yeah, I know."

"I won't ever again go to the embarkation room and see him come down the ramp. And yes, whenever that hits, and it hits at the most unexpected moments, it's rough." She took a deep breath to get over the sudden lump in her throat, before she continued, "but I meant what I said that day. I had six years with him that I wouldn't have had without the Tok'ra. Six years during which he was the father I'd always wanted. And I wouldn't trade those memories for anything. I just remind myself of those times whenever the grief strikes."

"But don't those . . ." with a grimace, Jack shook his head and trailed off.

"What?" she asked, curious as to what he was going to say.

"No, I don't want to make it harder," he answered, shrugging it away.

"You won't. Just ask me what you want to know," She insisted.

"Well, I was just wondering whether remembering the good times, makes remembering he's gone, harder? I mean for a good while there after," and now it was Jack that had to stop and take a big breath before he could continue, "Charlie died I couldn't stand to think about the good times because they just made the reality of his death all the more painful."

Sam was silent for a few moments before she could speak and Jack thought that maybe he'd made things worse and tried to backtrack. "Forget it, it's not important. I didn't mean . . ."

"No, no, it's ok. It's just that," after a brief hesitation, Sam continued, "you don't usually bring up Charlie; it took me by surprise, that's all." Sam paused briefly again to try and gather her thoughts but resumed talking promptly; fearing that if she didn't Jack would retreat again.

"I can see why thinking of good times would make it hurt more - that happened to me after my mom died. But now, for some reason it's the opposite. I don't know, maybe it's because I'm older or maybe because, as sad as it is, this is not the first time I've lost a parent. I don't know," she repeated with a small shrug. "For whatever reason, it makes me feel better," she finished, feeling a bit frustrated that she couldn't explain what was going on with her any better.

"Whatever works, Carter, whatever works," Jack said, as he drank some of his beer.

"Yes," Sam trailed off before the word 'sir' could pass her lips. She was determined to have this conversation between Sam and Jack and not Colonel and General, as such 'sir' was banned from her vocabulary tonight. Whether he knew of her intentions, and whether he kept calling her Carter, was totally irrelevant.

"Well, I hope you didn't stop by tonight to try and convince me to let you go back to work sooner, because it's not going to work." Jack ventured, when the silence had gotten a little too long, thinking that was a likely reason for her to have stopped by but now that she was there she wasn't sure how to bring it up.

"Actually s. . ." damn there was the 'sir' in the tip of her tongue again, "now that you've mentioned it."

"No, Carter. I gave you two weeks downtime, of which you still have a week, and you're going to take all of it."

"But I'm bored out of my mind already! I have nothing to do! You didn't even let me bring some work home." She was actually pouting at what she thought was the height of unfairness.

Jack thought she looked completely cute pouting; not that he'd ever say it out loud – he wanted to keep on living, thank you very much. It just wasn't often that one got to see this side of the Lt. Colonel; to his considerable joy, Jack happened to be one of the few who could bring it out in her, so he was going to enjoy it for all its worth. "Come on, Carter, you have to learn how to relax and have fun. It's not that difficult."

"Uh huh, so you say. You know what I did today? I cleaned my house from top to bottom; it only took about forty minutes seeing as how I'd already cleaned it yesterday and the day before. Then I went out to do some grocery shopping and run some errands. That only took me about an hour, because I had already gone out shopping yesterday and had already completed all of my errands the day before.

"Then I went back home and after putting away what groceries I had bought, which only took about ten minutes because I didn't really need anything, I went out to do some yard work and it took less than fifteen minutes before I realized there was nothing to do because I'd paid one of the neighborhood kids to keep it clean. So, in less than three hours I had done everything I could think to do regarding household chores and I was still bored out of my mind and I had nothing left to do!"

By the time Sam finished her list of failed projects for the day, she was almost shouting as she relived her frustrations. Jack, on the other hand, was doing everything he could to stop himself from laughing his head off as he saw his 2IC get more and more upset as she recounted what would have been to anyone else a most relaxing day.

"Oh, go ahead and laugh, why don't you?" Sam said exasperatedly, as she saw the mirth on his face. "I'm glad you find it amusing," she added with another adorable (in Jack's opinion) pout.

Jack calmed down enough to say, "I'm sorry." But glancing at her face he went off again. A couple of minutes later he got a hold of himself and could speak again. "I'm sorry, but if you could have seen your face." Jack gave a final chuckle and shook his head. "You know anyone else would love to have a few days to do nothing but relax, you should really try it. It'd worked wonders, I guarantee it."

"Yeah, well, maybe." But her tone of voice said, more than clearly, that she sincerely doubted it.

"So what else did you do?" At her almost blank look, he specified. "Today, you just told me that everything you just mentioned took you less than three hours; how did you fill the rest of your day?"

"Oh, that. Well you know after coming back from the yard I decided to try and watch some TV. I figured it'd pass some time; but you know that with over two hundred channels there was nothing to watch on any of them," she told him with surprised frown.

"Oh, I'm sure you're exaggerating. There must have been something to watch," he argued, tipping his bottle for a drink.

"Well, there was a lot to watch, just nothing _good_," was her quick response.

With a shake of his head, Jack chided, "You're just too damn picky."

"I am not," she denied, firmly. "But anyway, I did end up finding an interesting channel."

"Really? Let me guess, the History channel? No, no, the Discovery channel?" Jack asked, with an amused smirk.

"No, neither. Though they are both great channels, there was nothing on that grabbed my attention today. No, I ended up watching MTV en Español."

Jack stopped with the beer bottle half way to his mouth and goggled at her for a few seconds. "Excuse me, what did you say?"

Sam, who was totally enjoying Jack's dumfounded look, replied slowly, as if to a child, "I said I ended up watching MTV en Español. That means . . ."

"I know what it means" interrupted a somewhat exasperated Jack, "what I didn't know was that you spoke Spanish. How come I didn't know that?"

"I don't know," she stopped herself, in time again, just how many times had she stopped herself from calling him 'sir' now? Ten, fifteen, and in what, less than twenty minutes? Ugh, damn hard habit to break, but she _would_ break it. "I guess it's just never come up. After all, it's not like we encountered too many aliens that speak Spanish."

"Um, I guess that makes sense. Do you speak any other languages I don't know about?" he asked with a suspicious tone of voice.

"I'm fluent in Spanish and Japanese, I can get by in German and French and I have a working knowledge of Ancient and Gou'ld." After a few seconds' pause, she added, "I think that's about it."

"Really, is that all? Geez, Carter, you said that as if speaking six languages wasn't enough!" exclaimed a somewhat wound up Jack.

"I wouldn't really say I speak six languages - not really;" she protested, before asking in a thoughtful tone, "it's more like four and a half, maybe?"

"Oh, that makes a great, huge difference." The O'Neill sarcasm was in great form at the moment.

"Oh, come on. You don't have to sound as if speaking more than one language is that big a deal." She argued. "I mean Daniel speaks how many, 22, 24?"

"I'm not sure." He answered with a shrug. "I think he might be up to 25 by now."

"See, compared to that even six is not that big a deal, and how many do you speak again, 8, 9?" she asked slyly, looking at him from the corner of her eye.

"Hmph," Jack snorted, "only seven." He replied, without really thinking about it, and then it was too late. He shot Carter a quick look and by the look on her face, he knew that he'd been had. "You tricked me!" he accused, pointing his finger at her.

"Yup" she cheerfully agreed, without the least bit of guilt, "learned from the master himself."

"Flattery won't work. How did you know I spoke any foreign languages, anyway? I thought I kept that knowledge pretty well hidden," he complained, taking his turn at wearing a pout.

"You did," she agreed with a nod. "But, come on, you didn't seriously think I'd bought the dumb act, did you? I mean you don't get promoted to Colonel by being stupid, let alone make Brigadier General! Of everyone at the base, I ought to know!"

"Ok, but how did you know that I spoke more than one language?" and there must have been something on her face that gave her away because he went on to ask, "Carter, you haven't by any chance gotten into my files, have you?" She didn't really have to answer; the look on her face once again said it all. "Carter! You know that is classified information. How'd you get into them?"

"Please, I don't think there's a computer system out there that I can't get into." This was said without any hint of an apology.

Jack just stared at her for a while before chuckling; he agreed with a soft, "Yeah, I guess you're right. So, does that mean that you know . . ." he trailed off.

Sam continued his thought, "that you have a doctorate and a couple of masters? Yep. I also know on what. You didn't _really_ think that you could keep the dumb act indefinitely, did you? I mean you _were_ promoted to General, the gig was going to be up sooner or later."

"Yeah, maybe, but it'd been fun while it lasted," Jack said with a grin, very much like a young boy who had gotten away with a particularly enjoyable prank.

Sam was in no way immune to that grin and had to grin back at him. "I also know that Spanish is one of the languages you speak, along with French, German, Arabic, Latin –which I know you learned during the loops – Farsi and Russian. What I don't know is whether or not you still practice any of them?"

"I tried, but like you said, in our line of work it's pretty hard. Though I think I'm still pretty fluent in most of them," he added with a shrug as he leaned back on the couch.

This was what Sam had wanted to hear, and in her most nonchalant voice she asked, "So, if I put on a song in Spanish, you think you'd understand what it says?"

"Yeah, I should," he shrugged. "Why?"

"Oh, because I heard a song this afternoon and it reminded me of you and I'd like you to hear it," she explained, still in that same nonchalant voice.

"Oh? Is it a bawdy song about drinking beer and going fishing?" he asked in a lighthearted tone, but there was a look in his eyes that said he knew where this might be going and he wasn't sure he wanted to go there.

It was a warning look that Sam chose to ignore. "No, it's a beautiful song actually, about how the love of a good man can change a woman's life." She said in a firm tone and with a stubborn look in her eyes that was a counterpart in intensity to Jack's.

"Carter, maybe you'd better leave it then," Jack said, in a warning tone that matched the look in his eyes.

We all have moments in our lives when we see two possible roads in front of us and we just know that either road will lead us down drastically different paths and we know that we need to choose wisely for once a road is taken there'll be no going back.

As Sam looked into Jack's eyes, she knew that this moment was one of those. She knew that if she called him 'sir' and backtracked saying she'd forgotten the c.d., Jack would let her; she'd stay for a while and they'd talk about nothing in particular and their relationship would continue as always.

But in that moment she also knew that she couldn't do it. She just couldn't keep going on as they had for the last four plus years; something _had_ to give, and she knew that it was going to have to be her because he wouldn't. If he hadn't done it by now, he wouldn't ever – not because of him, but because of her.

It wasn't his career that held him off, it was hers and she knew that, she'd always known that. It was the greatest of ironies that the man that had practically made a career out of breaking the rules wouldn't break this one, not because he didn't want to, but because this mattered too much, because she and her career mattered more to him than almost anything else. So, what else was a woman to do when the man she loved, loved her enough not to break the rules, but break the rules herself?

Looking him right in the eyes, Sam chose the path less traveled and told him, "No, Jack I want you to hear it."


	6. Chapter 6

**Te Quedaste**

**Disclaimer: **Nope, still not mine

**A/N: **Well, here's the final part of the talk; hope you like the improved version as much as the original. Let me know what you think!!

**Chapter 5**

Jack looked startled to hear her call him by his first name, though he really shouldn't have been, given the twist the conversation seemed to have taken. He kept staring into her eyes to see if she really meant this, if she really wanted to go there – the place they had so studiously avoided for he didn't even want to remember how many years now.

The few times they had approached this, it had been by her initiative and it had been him that had cut her off. He had had good reasons for doing that, he was sure that he had. He just couldn't seem to remember them right at that moment.

Not that they would do much to stop her, judging by the look in her eyes and the set of her shoulders – whenever they got like that there was no power on earth or any other planet that could change her mind and direct orders only worked because she was too good a soldier for them not to; but he'd noted how careful she'd been in not calling him 'sir' or 'General' and the last thing he wanted to do was bring rank into this when she'd gone out of her way to keep it out.

Still, did they really want to do this now? After everything she'd been through in the last month or so, was she really in a place where she could make this kind of decision? As soon as he'd thought this he knew, that if she knew that he was thinking along these lines, she'd kick his six, saying that she was old enough to know what she wanted.

He supposed she'd be right; he'd never known her to make rush decisions – no, make that making decisions without thinking of the consequences, because he knew that she'd made rush decisions, she'd just always seemed to know what the consequences were going to be.

That meant that she'd known exactly what she was doing before she even got in her car to make the trip over. And if she knew what she was doing and was sure she wanted to do it, then what was stopping him?

Rules? Regulations? Since when did he care enough about those to stop him from doing what felt right? But he knew the answer: since it was her career on the line, along with his; since it'd be her that would suffer the worst. He didn't really care about what it would mean to his career; he'd never thought he'd get this far and now he knew he was on his way out.

But she, she had a brilliant career in front of her and he'd never do anything to jeopardize that. Of course, this fell into the same category as her knowing what she wanted and knowing the consequences of _doing_ what she wanted. And looking into her eyes, he saw that she did. Was he ready to take the same risk, to put it all on the line? Well, let me think? Um, _YES_!

He'd been ready for more than four years. For most of his adult life he'd given everything he was to the Air Force; he'd lived and almost died countless times for God and Country and for the last eight plus years he'd expanded that circle to include this and numerous other worlds.

It was time that he took something for himself, to make a life for himself, and, really, it was not like they didn't have options. So, with his eyes wide open, he made the jump and with a wave of his arm towards the stereo told her, "Be my guest, Sam."

It had taken him some time to answer and Sam had been on pins and needles the whole time; she was almost sure that he was going to say something that would stop them from dealing with this, just like he'd done the other times she'd tried to talk to him about it.

She'd been so on edge that when he spoke she'd almost jumped and it wasn't until she heard him calling her 'Sam' that she relaxed enough to return the smile he was giving her. As she stood and walked to the stereo, she knew that he was ready to deal with this weird non-relationship they had – he wouldn't have called her 'Sam' otherwise.

As she came back to sit on the couch, she asked him how good was his Spanish. He answered, "good enough, why?" and she responded, "because I have the lyrics but didn't know whether you'd want them."

"I should be ok, but let me see them just in case." He extended his hand out and she handed them to him as soon as she was seated.

Then there was silent, as they both paid attention to the song. When it was over she looked at him and had to ask, "what's with that smile?" He'd been wearing this small, secretive smile since the moment he looked down at the lyrics.

"Nothing," but, he expanded on that answer when he saw her frown. "It's just that I'm surprised it was this song, that's all."

"Why? Don't you like it?" she asked, surprised and worried.

"Oh, no, I love it. It's just that I always think of you when I hear it," he answered her.

It took her a few moments to process what that meant. One, he'd heard it before and that meant that he had to either be listening to Spanish radio or watching MTVS. Two, he was thinking of her whenever he heard it; here her considerable brain seemed to stall. She knew what that implied and she didn't seem to be able to put it into words, but she had to say something. "Oh, that's . . . I was going to say it was a coincidence; but maybe it's not so much."

"No, I don't think it is," he agreed with a small smile, shaking his head.

And with that they both fell silent again, but this time the silence was different. This time, the air was filled with electricity, as they looked into each other's eyes and communicated far better without words than they ever could have with words.

Jack had never been very good at talking about his feelings, he was much more of an action type of guy and Sam was not that much better at it than he was, really. That might have been due in part to their nature, but it had as much, if not more, to do with their military training. They were both soldiers and were much more comfortable acting than talking (well, unless it was sarcastic bad puns for Jack and 'techno babble' for Sam), that was their training.

They were both conditioned to react, to protect, to accomplish their mission in the most efficient way possible – and in their line of work, that rarely meant talking, and if it did, well, that's what they had Daniel for after all. So, it really wasn't that surprising that most of their important conversations hadn't been verbal.

They had this almost psychic way of communicating that she was never sure was a result of being CO and 2IC for almost nine years or a result of their feelings for each other, probably a combination of both and at this point, really, who cared.

After a while of just looking at each other, they seemed to reach a mutual decision as they both smiled the same kind of smile. Jack predictably was the first to break the silence.

"So," he said with a smile.

"So," she repeated, copying the smile.

"Ok, that means that," and he made a gesture between them with his hand.

"Yeah, if you . . ." she agreed with a nod.

"Oh, I me believe, I do." He enthusiastically agreed. "But are you sure that you . . ."

"Yes, I wouldn't be here if I didn't," she told him firmly.

And with that, they were both back to grinning at each other like fools. No one else (well, almost no one else, Daniel and Teal'c would have had a reasonably good idea) that heard them would have had a clue what that almost-conversation had been about, but they knew.

They knew that they had finally decided that enough was enough and eight years plus was certainly more than enough. What with the war with the Goa'uld and the fight against the replicators both over, they were finally able to make the decision to put themselves first for a change.

Sam finally stopped grinning long enough to ask a most pertinent question, "How would this work, exactly?"

"Well, there are a couple of options: I could retire . . ." he started to say only to be interrupted by her.

"No, I don't want you to retire, to give up your career," she was most adamant about it.

"It'd be worth it, believe me. But if I don't have to, it'd probably be better that I don't. I'd be bored in less than two weeks," he conceded.

"More like in less than one week," she contradicted him, she knew him as well as she knew herself after all, and in this they were very much alike – they'd both go bonkers without something to do.

"Yeah, you're probably right," he agreed with a smile. "Ok, so the other choice I'd just heard about, so no yelling at me for not talking about it, ok?"

"Ok," she agreed, cautiously, wondering what he had up his sleeve.

"Well, it seems as if Hammond is finally going to retire," he began.

"Really?" Sam commented, with a skeptical smile. "How many times does this make? I think he's retired about as many times as you have by now."

"No, it's for real this time." Jack assured her. "He's tired and wants to spend more time with his granddaughters. Of course, I don't think it's possible for any of us to be really out of this game, not completely. He's going to be kept on as a special consultant to the President."

"Ok, but how does this . . ." as soon as she started to ask the question she knew the answer. And she wasn't sure she liked it. "They want you to . . ."

"Yeah, they want me to take over for him as head of Homeworld Security. I'd still be running the Stargate program," he told her, shifting to lean his elbows on his knees. "I'd just be doing it from Washington and I'd be dealing with everything Stargate related, not just the SGC."

"Wow, that's a huge assignment and a great honor to be asked. And after Hammond, you're the perfect person for the job," she told him sincerely.

"Yeah, well, maybe," he didn't sound as sure as she was.

There was no one else as self-deprecating as Jack. Regardless of how much he accomplished or how much others told him how good he was, he just never seemed to want to take any credit. It wasn't like he didn't know he was capable or smart – all those degrees, medals and accomplished missions meant something; or that he wasn't confident, because God knew he could be an arrogant son-of-a-bitch on occasion.

It just seemed that he was more comfortable playing the joker and fooling around, than acting as the supremely capable commanding officer that he was; that was not to say that he didn't carry his authority around him like a cloak at all times, or that anyone at the base would ever think of second-guessing him. It may have simply be a left-over from his special-ops days: don't ever let them see all your cards, show them less than you have and they'll always underestimate you – not that many people did that these days.

"You're perfect for it and you know it. You're doing a great job at the SGC; everyone seems to know that but you," she pointed out.

"I'm doing ok. And maybe I'd do ok in Washington too. But I'll have to be in Washington," he said what was on both their minds.

"Yeah, don't really like that part," she agreed with a grimace.

"Me neither."

"Would it make any difference? Wouldn't I still be in your chain of command?" she wanted to know.

"I wouldn't be your direct commanding officer anymore," he answered her, simply.

"Landry would."

"Landry?" she repeated, blankly.

"General Hank Landry, a good guy. Known him for a while, he'd be my pick for CO of the SGC," was the answer.

"Well, I've been thinking," she began after a few moments' pause.

"Oh, big shock there," he remarked, with a teasing grin.

She just shook her head and, with a smile, continued, "now that the wars with the Goa'uld and replicators are over, I think I'm ready for a change."

"What do you mean?" he asked, not sure what she meant.

"Just that I think I'd like to work more in the lab and not so much in the field," she answered, matter of fact.

"You want to give up traveling through the Gate? Wouldn't you miss it?" He hadn't really thought that she'd be ready to give it up – that adrenaline rush could be addictive.

God knew _he_ missed it; sure he'd been tired of getting shot at every other time, but he had been a field officer all of his career and giving it up hadn't been easy. He not only missed that adrenaline rush but the rest of the team. Though, they were still close, it just wasn't the same anymore.

But he really hadn't had much of a choice; if he hadn't taken Hammond's old job he would have been forced to take another less enjoyable desk job or retire pretty soon. The truth was, he had been getting pretty close to the max desired age for a foot soldier and he'd have been forced out one way or another, they'd all known it.

He'd taken the job because he would have still been involved with the project, he would have still been there to watch the team's sixes and because, really, there probably hadn't been anyone better – God knows who they'd have gotten if he hadn't taken it. Sam, however, still had quite a few years before she'd have to make that decision. So, to say he was surprised would be an understatement.

"Miss it? Going through the gate and finding really 'cool doohickeys' to play with? Yes," she answered with a shrug. "But then with the new job I'd still get to play with them and I'd have more time to do it in. Getting shot all the time? No," she added with a shake of her head.

"And the rest of the team?" he wanted to know. "Won't you miss them?"

"Yes, I'll definitely miss them," she answered simply. "But I have a hunch that SG1, at least our SG1, won't be around too much longer. I mean Teal'c is getting more and more involved with the new Jaffa nation all the time and Daniel; well, Daniel is going to want to go to Atlantis with the _Daedalus_. And with the Goa'uld war over, I don't think you have much reason to keep him here. Plus, the team just hasn't been the same since you got promoted."

"I know what you mean about Teal'c and Danny," he agreed with a sigh as he shifted backwards. "I know it'd be unfair to try and keep them around, just because _I_ want them around, when they want to be somewhere else. It's just that I'll miss them, you know. They're like family, like brothers – my older, wiser brother and my younger, irritating one. It won't be the same without them around, but then I probably won't be around either, will I?" He asked as the realization seemed to come over him all at once. "I guess the team is over."

"Yes, but like you said, we're family, that won't change whether or not we're part of the same team," she said firmly. "Things didn't change that much when you left the team did they? Yes, I know, they weren't the same but we still hung out together and we always will. Things _are_ changing but change doesn't have to be a bad thing."

"I know; I know you're right. But just because it won't be our SG1 doesn't mean there won't be _an_ SG1 and you have earned the right to lead it. It won't be the same but like you just said change doesn't have to be a bad thing," at Jack's smile when he said this, Sam couldn't help but wince a bit, no one liked to have their words thrown back at them, "and you'd get to pick anyone you want for it."

"Yes, I know. And I'm not saying I won't miss going through the Gate," Sam allowed. "Well the exploration part of it, because like I said, I won't miss getting shot at all the time. But there are other things that I would like to do with my life and maybe now is the time to look into them."

"Other things? What kind of other things?" Jack wanted to know.

"You know, things that haven't been possible until now and that would not be possible if I kept on going through the Gate," she told him with a small smile and glint in her eyes.

"Oh, those types of things" Jack said, with a smile and a glint in his own eyes, "Like those we talked about once before?"

"Yep, exactly like those," she agreed.

"So, a life outside work, huh? You think you're ready for that?" this was said with a grin.

"Yes I am, and maybe even some. . ." Sam trailed off, because as much as they might have come to an understanding, to actually mention children out loud seemed a bit too forward.

Jack knew what she meant and though he seemed a bit surprised at first, after looking into her eyes for a few moments, he smiled the gentlest smile she'd ever seen him wear and said, "children?"

"Yeah, maybe one day?" tried as she might, she couldn't quite keep the hopeful note out of her voice. "I mean if you . . ." she again trailed off.

As before, he completed her thought, "Yes, I would." And they were off grinning like fools at each other again. Tonight seemed to be a night for grinning. After a while, after having noted that most of what had been said had been implied, and not actually _said,_ and having decided that someone better convey something a bit more concrete, he took a deep breath and took the jump.

"Maybe, though, it'd better be sooner rather than later, uh? Neither one of us is getting any younger." Ok, so that wasn't really all _that_ direct, but hey, it was still pretty up front – much more than anything she'd said and Jack was still pretty proud of himself for having gotten that much out.

Sam, on her part, was not so much proud, as she was surprised, that he'd actually said that out loud (it was more like awe, amazed, astounded – well, you get the idea), he usually wasn't one to say those types of things out loud. It only went to show how much this meant to him and if he could then so could she. "Yes, it should probably be sooner and not later. Though I'm not even sure if I could even . . ."

This time it was he that stopped her, "Sam, don't borrow trouble ahead of time. We'll deal with that if and when we have to, all right."

Sam smiled and nodded her head, "yes, all right."

"Yes," and he smiled and nodded his head and at that moment they both knew that regardless of what the future would bring they would face it together.

"Hey, I've got an idea," Jack said, as they relaxed and listened to some more music.

"Oh, should I be scared?" she kidded, as she came back from getting a couple of beers.

"Funny, Carter, very funny." As little as two hours ago, it would have bothered the heck out of her to hear him call her 'Carter' again, but now, knowing that they'd reached an understanding, it didn't bother her so much. She had an inkling that she might always be 'Carter' to him, at least when they were relaxing like this – it just brought back to mind too many team nights to be any different.

"So, what's the idea?" she asked as they cuddled together again.

"Well, it occurred to me that we haven't had a vacation as a team in quite a while. And as you were saying, the odds are good that we will all be going different ways soon, sooo . . ."

"What better time to go on a vacation?" asked Sam, grinning, rather liking the idea.

"Yes, I thought it'd be a great opportunity to finally take you up to the cabin and do some fishing," he told her, relishing the idea of finally having her there. "I'm sure the guys could do with some days to just relax."

"Yes, probably, but do you think you can get Teal'c to go? He wasn't really impressed with it the last time he went, was he?" she asked with an impish smile.

"Oh, you know T. He was just being his usual enigmatic self." Jack replied confidently.

"Sure, if you say so," she answered still grinning.

"Yes, I say so," Jack replied ignoring her sarcasm. "So, what do you think?"

"I think it's a great idea. And I'm sure the guys will too." Sam answered, with a sincere and tender smile.

"Sweet," he said, as he returned her smile.


	7. Chapter 7

**Te Quedaste**

**Disclaimer: **Nope, still not mine.

**A/N:** Again, same chapter just much improved!!

**Chapter 6**

After a lot of nagging and promising that it'd only be for two hours, Sam finally convinced Jack to let her go into work the following day. She planned to use every single minute of the two hours, and maybe see if she could take some work home with her, after all the promise was to stay _at_ work for two hours it said nothing about not taking work home _with_ her. But before she got lost in the wonderful world of her lab, she decided to stop by the cafeteria and get a snack.

Once she got there she saw that the General had had the same idea as her and he had somehow convinced both Teal'c and Daniel to join him.

Daniel was the first one to see her and immediately called her over, "Sam, over here." Sam smiled and waved to let them know she'd be there as soon as she got her snack.

"Hey, guys. How are you?" she asked Daniel and Teal'c as she sat at the table. She then turned to the General and said with a hidden smile in her eyes, "Sir."

"Carter," he responded.

"Hey, we're fine. But what are you doing here? I thought you had another week of down time." Daniel asked Sam, but looked at Jack as he was speaking, knowing how protective he'd been feeling towards Sam since her father died – not that he hadn't always been protective of her.

"Yes, Daniel," she answered with a nod. "I still got a week left but I got a bit of a reprieve and was allowed back for a couple of hours today."

"Carter, Carter, Carter," said Jack, in a sing song voice, shaking his head as though sad, "only you would call being allowed back into work a reprieve. And what was it reprieved from, may I ask? Downtime, the time for fun, and relaxation? Yeah, I could see how that could be considered a sentence . . . but only by someone who was a workaholic."

"Something I've never denied I was, sir," she told him candidly.

"And you're damn proud of that fact too, aren't you?" he asked her with a grin.

"Of course, sir," she answered with a cheeky grin. "If you're going to do something, do it the best you can I always said."

"Oh, Carter," Jack said, shaking his head. "I don't know what I'm going to do with you. Honestly, I'm starting to thinkx1 I'll never be able to teach you how to hang out and do nothing."

"Yeah, I don't think there's much of a chance of that, sir," she told him, almost sounding remorseful.

Daniel was looking from one to the other with a curious expression on his face. Though the banter between Sam and Jack was normal for them, there was something different. He couldn't quite identify what, but he sensed that there was a different undercurrent to their interaction, something that had never quite been there before – at least not quite so blatantly. He knew better than to question it though, at least here. He'd let it go and wait until he found one of them alone.

Jack suddenly turned to Daniel and Teal'c and said, "Speaking of days off, and doing nothing, how would you guys like the rest of the week off?"

"Days off, what do you have in mind, Jack?" Daniel asked, suspiciously.

"Nothing too outrageous; I just thought since Carter here has the rest of the week off and we haven't spent much time as a group outside of work for a while _and_ since it seems that change is coming soon, we could take the opportunity and go up to my cabin and just hang. You know, do some fishing, relax and enjoy each other's company. God knows when we'll have another opportunity to do that. So, if you guys have nothing too pressing?" Jack let the question hang there; he didn't want to press too much – at least not yet.

Daniel thought for a moment and decided he liked the idea. Jack was right, change was coming and no one knew when they'd have another chance to just be together. And after the momentous events of the last few days, Daniel had a feeling they all needed that. "No, I don't have anything too pressing; nothing that couldn't wait a few more days at any rate. Sure, I'd love to go to the cabin. What about you guys, Teal'c? Sam?"

Teal'c looked at Jack and inclined his head in his customary gesture of acquiesce, "I also do not have any pressing matters at the moment, O'Neill. And while 'fishing' is not my favorite sport, I would enjoy a few days at your cabin to relax and share in your company. And you Col. Carter, would you be joining us at O'Neill's cabin?" He asked before he and Daniel turned to look at Sam with identical quizzical expressions. Jack's expression, however, was a bit more . . . smug.

"Yes, sure, I'd love to go to the General's cabin and spend some time with you guys. I think it'd be good. It has to be more interesting than what I've been doing for the past few days," she answered, smiling. She also avoided looking in Jack's direction; she was sure that if she looked at him everyone would be able to see what she felt for him on her face.

Now Daniel knew for sure that something was going on between Jack and Sam. Sam had never before accepted an invitation to Jack's cabin. It had always seemed to Daniel as if she had been afraid to go up there, as if she was afraid of what could happen. But all of a sudden she wasn't? After just having ended her engagement to Pete? Oh, no. There was more going on here; and Daniel was determined to find out what.

--

They spent the next ten minutes or so making plans for their trip, which cars they should take, who'd be driving, what time they' be leaving, what provisions to take and the like. After planning for almost every conceivable incident (being part of a military unit that faced the unknown every other week, they tended to make planning for every contingency compulsory) the talk moved on to work.

Sam was so excited about the reports she'd gotten on the progress they were making on the Daedalus' engines, she could barely contain herself. She went on in great detail about how hyper speed engines were supposed to work, how the alien technology had been fully integrated with the ship's systems, and so forth and so on.

Jack's eyes were glazed moments after Sam started on the explanations. He tried to put up a good front by smiling and nodding but, really, he'd read (ok, skimmed) the same reports and knew that when operational the Daedalus would get to Atlantis within 3 weeks, would have defensive shielding and big honking weapons. What else was there to know? Or more specifically, what else was there that _he_ needed to know? So, after a while he gave up and concentrated on his cake, a much more enjoyable pastime anyway.

The information was, likewise, somewhat over Teal'c's head. And while he did find it fairly interesting, the amount of detail Colonel Carter was providing seemed a bit excessive to him. He was, however, much better at concealing any confusion or boredom he might feel than O'Neill was. Thus, he kept his normally impassive face and appeared to be paying close attention to what the Col. was saying, while half his mind was occupied with other . . . matters.

Daniel, on the other hand, was completely entranced. Not so much with the engineering and scientific breakthroughs that had Sam in such a tizzy, but with the prospect of being able to get to Atlantis in less than a month. So, he listened with rapt attention and the fact that he only understood about half of what Sam was saying did nothing to dampen his enthusiasm. Such was Daniel's engrossment with the idea of going to Atlantis, that he momentarily forgot his determination to find out what was going on between Sam and Jack. He didn't remember until they had finished their snack and were on their way out of the cafeteria.

Ironically, it was Sam and Jack themselves that reminded him. They had reached the corner where they were splitting up, Jack had to go to his office and Sam, Daniel and Teal'c were going to Sam's lab to see some schematic of the Daedalus. Just as they were saying their goodbyes, Daniel noticed that, for an instant, Sam's and Jack's hands touched. The touch was more of a graze and their eyes only met for a handful of seconds. The kind of innocent touch that occurred all the time between friends; anyone watching would have thought it no more than an accident.

But Daniel was not just anyone; he was not only more observant than most people, he also knew the people involved quite well. He knew that as the soldiers/warriors they were, they were always aware of their bodies, that every move they made was conscious. The likelihood of an accidental touch between the two of them was extremely low.

While either might have let their guard down around Daniel, they would have never let it down around each other. They were too careful around each other, had been so for too many years to let that happen, particularly on the base. And though he was used to the glances they'd often send one another, they usually happened when the other was not looking.

That little touch further convinced Daniel that something was going on between his two friends, and his determination to find out what, was renewed. His curiosity was so great that Atlantis was relegated to the background for the time being.

When they entered her lab, Sam went straight to her computer.

Daniel waited until she was in the middle of powering it up, and nonchalantly asked, "so what's going on between you and Jack?" as he leaned on the table, and picked up some doohickey that was lying on it.

Sam froze when she heard the question. Her recovery was so fast, however, that Daniel would have missed it if he hadn't been looking at her intently. "There's nothing going on between the general and me, Daniel. Well, nothing except friendship, you know that." She answered, after the slightest of hesitation.

"I knew that, yes. But something seems to have changed since the last time I saw you two together. There was something different; something was going on between the two of you at the cafeteria earlier." Daniel insisted.

"I don't know what you are talking about, Daniel." Sam kept looking at her computer monitor while she answered. She didn't want to look into his face, in case something was showing on her own. Daniel could be remarkably perceptive sometimes.

"There's nothing unusual going on between Ja. . . the General and me." Damn, damn, damn; fine time for her to get over her habit of calling him 'General'. It had taken most of last night and a conscious effort on her part to start calling him 'Jack' and now here she was doing it without a second thought. Damn.

After she finished speaking, Daniel was stunned into silence. He'd never heard Sam call Jack by his first name and to have her almost do it now was, to say the least, surprising. There was no way she was getting out of telling him what was going on, now. "Sam, you almost call him by his first name just now, you want to keep telling me there's nothing going on between you two?"

'Should have known he was going to call me on it,' Sam thought to herself. "Yes." When you were denying something that was true, it was best to keep it short.

"Oh, come on Sam. It's me you're talking to. I know you guys too well to buy that. Besides, you know you want to talk about it, and if you don't talk to us about it, who are going talk to? Jack? He's the one you want to talk about." Daniel kept pressing; he was nothing if not persistent.

"Are you saying I don't have any more friends, Daniel?" She figured that changing the subject of the conversation might be a good idea. Besides she'd always been more comfortable being in an offensive position that in a defensive one.

"Well, this place sure doesn't leave much time to go out and make some, does it? But what I meant was that Teal'c and I are your best friends, so who better than us to talk to?"

There was not much that she could say in response to that; they _were_ her best friends. And if she was honest with herself, she was dying to talk to them about what had happened last night. But she hadn't discussed it with Jack yet and she wasn't sure it was a good idea. Oh, she was sure it would somehow come up during their stay in the cabin, but there they would be able to deal with it together.

Teal'c took advantage of her silence to voice his opinion, "Daniel Jackson is correct, Col. Carter. There seemed to be 'something going on' between yourself and O'Neill. And as we are your best friends it is only right that you share with us what that something is."

Sam was thrown by this atypical push for information from the usual circumspect Jaffa. Daniel, on the other hand, was pleased to get help from such an unexpected corner. "See, even Teal'c could tell something was going on," not much of an endorsement since Teal'c usually noted everything that went on around him. "Come on, Sam, give. Whatever it is, it happened last night, didn't it?"

"What makes say that?" asked Sam, more in an effort to postpone the inevitable than anything else.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe the phone call I got from you where you told me that you were going to Jack's house to talk to him might have given me the idea." Daniel replied sarcastically, he too had been spending much too much time with Jack.

Sam winced internally, she had forgotten all about that phone call. But as she remembered it, she also remembered that at the time she hadn't much cared who found out what she going to do. These were her dear friends, why was she keeping this from them? They would tell no one and it was only right that they know. With a sigh and making sure that there was no one at the door, Sam said, "you're right, Daniel. But if you say one word about it . . ."

Sam never finished the implied threat because Daniel interrupted her, "I know, I know, you or Jack or both of you will hurt me in ways I can't even imagine. Though, after everything I've been through I don't think there are many ways out there to hurt that I can't image, what with having had personal experience with them all." Daniel added in a thoughtful tone of voice, only Daniel would go on such a tangent in the middle of an important conversation.

"Yes, well. I'm sure we could come up with something. Now, do you want to hear this or not?" Sam asked, in a somewhat exasperated tone.

"Yes, of course we do. Go on."

"It all started with this beautiful song," Sam began to tell them the story. Both Teal'c and Daniel listened with rapt attention. Both knew of the feelings Jack and Sam had for each other but, until last night, they had all but given up hope that something would happen.

"Wow," Daniel said, when Sam finished telling the story, "I have to listen to this song. It must be something else, if it could get through your stubborn heads. You said that Jack had already heard the song and thought the same of you?"

"Yes, isn't that a wild coincidence?" Sam had stopped fooling with the computer and was now sitting on her stool with her arms leaning on the table.

Before Daniel could respond, Teal'c said, "I was not aware that you spoke the Spanish language, Col. Carter."

"Well, like I told the General last night, it's not like we meet many aliens that speak Spanish. I guess there just haven't been any occasions where I needed to speak it."

"Indeed," Teal'c inclined his head in agreement with her.

"Wait a minute here," something had just occurred to Daniel and he didn't seem happy about it, "Jack speaks Spanish?"

"Yes, Daniel, he does" Sam answered. "He actually speaks 7 languages all together."

"What! Seven! How come he never said anything about it?"

"I'm not sure, Daniel. You'd have to ask him about it." Sam said with a shrug.

"Oh, you can bet I'll ask him about it." Daniel grumbled.

"You do that. But in the meantime, I want to know if you guys are ok with this." Sam asked them, a bit worried that the news might have upset her friends.

"Of course we're ok with it, why wouldn't we be?" Daniel answered, frowning in confusion. "Heck, we've been waiting for something to happen for at least five years, haven't we Teal'c?"

"Indeed, Daniel Jackson," agreed Teal'c, "though I believe it's been more like seven years." He corrected and Daniel nodded his head in agreement. "To answer your question, Col. Carter, I am most pleased by your news. I hope you and O'Neill will be very happy."

"I'm sure we will, Teal'c, thanks," answered a relieved Sam.

"Hey, Sam, what about the regs," asked Daniel, as he suddenly remembered the reason his friends hadn't gotten together before. "Don't they still apply?"

"Yes, Daniel, they do. But there are a couple of options available to us. But we can talk about them while we're at the cabin where we'll have more time and privacy." Sam said, reminding them that it wasn't a very smart idea to continue talking about this subject while on base.

Daniel nodded his head but had one final question, "about that, are you guys sure that you want Teal'c and I to tag along? We'd understand if you guys want to be alone; we can find something to do around town, we don't have to go." He offered and Teal'c nodded his head in agreement.

"No, guys, really," Sam denied, shaking her head. "We want you guys to come. Like the General said, it's been a while since we'd spent any length of uninterrupted time together and who knows when we'll have this opportunity again. It's sweet of you to offer, but Ja. . . the General wouldn't have invited you if we weren't sure."

"Ok, then," Daniel nodded his acceptance. "I'm actually looking forward to this vacation. It'd be nice to just be the four of us again."

"Yes, it will," agreed Sam.

"Indeed, it will," Teal'c inclined his head to signal his agreement.

"Well, now that that's out of the way, what say we see those specs," with his curiosity satisfied, Daniel's mind once again went to Atlantis.

"Sure," Sam smiled and agreed, turning back to her computer and called up the appropriate files. As they came on the screen, she started to once again explain all about the new ship.


	8. Chapter 8

**Te Quedaste**

**Disclaimer: **Unfortunately, no, they're still not mine. I just like borrowing them to play with them for a bit.

**A/N: **So, we're almost to the end again!! Please let me know what you think!!

**Chapter 7**

As the truck sped towards Jack's cabin, Sam regarded the scenery as she contemplated the events of the last forty-eight hours. It had been a weird two days; in the SGC, weird was the norm and everyone there was used to it – but even by SGC standards, the past two days had been crazy.

It all started when Daniel got a call informing him that Katherine had died and while that, by itself, wasn't weird (sad but not weird) the events that followed definitely were.

Daniel had gone to the memorial service alone, as Jack and Sam had a few things to take care of before they could take a few days off. He met Katherine's niece at the service and she told him that he had inherited a few of her aunt's things. 'A few things' turned out to be most of Katherine's collection.

Daniel's lab had never been the tidiest but, after his inheritance was delivered, it looked like the storage room of an antiquities museum; something which, after the initial shock had worn off, had totally delighted Daniel. He had put his other work on hold and wholeheartedly delved into cataloguing his new collection.

Just as he was getting into it, Jack had called all of SG1 into Sam's lab. A fully charged ZPM, along with a sealed jar containing a video tape, had been found in Egypt. The contents of the tape had ensured that it and the ZPM were rushed to the SGC. When the General and SG1 saw it, they discovered that they had gone to the past to recover the ZPM, but, since they'd already gone and the ZPM was there, there was no reason to go back – in other words no mission was needed, they could take their vacation as planned and they still had the ZPM.

As 'simple' as it supposedly was, Sam still found it incredibly weird. After all, it wasn't everyday that one saw oneself (or an alternate oneself) on a tape that had been taped three thousand years ago. Sam couldn't image how the guys had talked her into using the time machine to go back in time; the probabilities, the chances of altering the timeline were mind boggling (and that's just what's happened; she'd gotten a headache).

Who could say that they hadn't changed the timeline? The only thing they had was a tape that gave some information on the general state of affairs but that was no guarantee that minor things hadn't changed. For that matter, that might not have even been the only time they'd gone into the past. They might have had to go more than once, to fix whatever had altered history.

They might have even been responsible for the rebellion that led to the expulsion of Ra from Earth. Neither Jack nor Teal'c were ones to stand still and let life pass them by and Sam couldn't imagine either one living under Goa'uld rule willingly. She was sure that, regardless of how many lectures her alternate self had given about staying out of history's way, sooner or later the two men would have had to become involved; that's just who they were. She could only hope that that was what was supposed to have happened and history had not been altered.

She sighed and rubbed her temple; this headache was really something. She'd better stop thinking about all of this or she'd be in a rotten mood for the rest of the trip.

"Something wrong, Sam?" Jack asked.

"Umm, nothing much. Why do you ask?"

"Well, you've just sighed at least twice in the last five minutes and had rubbed your temples at least that many times in the same time frame."

Darn it, wasn't there anything she did that escaped his notice? And had she really sighed that many times? She hadn't even noticed. "No, just a slight headache, that's all."

"Do you want stop and get something?"

"No. I think if I just stop thinking and stop trying to make sense out of the last two days I should be fine."

"Ahh!" he said, nodding his head knowingly. "Well, yeah, the last two days had been enough to give anyone a headache, _especially_, if you want them to make sense. That's why I decided to take it all at face value and be glad that we have the ZPM and don't really have to do anything else."

"But that's just it," exclaimed Sam. "We did do something. At least our alternates did; but are they really our alternates? I mean that wasn't an alternate reality but this one; those people had our same experiences. They had our lives; they were us until they got into the time machine and went to the past. Does that make them our alternates or not? Or just us, but, not quite? Oh, what am I saying? I don't even know what I'm saying anymore, I'm so confused." She cried, frustrated.

Jack merely smiled; it wasn't often that one got to see Colonel/Dr. Carter confused about physics after all.

But the smile wasn't well received by Sam, "What's the smirk for? What? Do you understand it better?"

"I'm not sure, but I think they were us until they went to the past," he started to explain the theory he had started to develop about the unusual events. "When they go there, they stopped being us and an alternate reality was created; when their task in the past was completed, that alternate reality ceased to exist and the 'normal' or our reality became dominant once again. Does that make sense?" he asked her, looking at her from the corner of his eye.

Sam thought about it for a few seconds and discovered that yes, it made a lot of sense. Jack really was a lot smarter than he wanted people to know. "Yes, it makes sense. I guess I was just making it harder than it had to be, huh?"

"Yeah, well, you do have a tendency to do that," he agreed with a small nod. "And I bet you're also thinking about how much we could have screwed up history."

It was a statement not a question, but Sam answered it anyway, "Yes, I am. Can you even image all the ways we could have changed the timeline. My God, we could have been responsible for who knows what!"

"But we aren't and the timeline hasn't been changed, so relax," he told her with a grin. "There's nothing to worry about."

"But _how_ do we know that?" She asked. "We only have the tape and that's no proof. It wasn't even very comprehensive. I just don't understand how you guys ever talked me into taking the time ship," she finished, muttering and crossing her arms.

"Huh, what makes you think that it was us that convinced you?" Jack wanted to know.

"What do you mean?" asked Sam, surprised. "Of course, it had to have been you guys. I would have never proposed it." She was very sure on that point.

Jack, however, wasn't. "How can you be so sure?"

"Because, because; I just wouldn't; that's how!" Sam stuttered.

"Oh, that's a very convincing argument." Jack said, sarcastically. "Well, the only thing I know is that I wouldn't have proposed it. I guess it's possible that Daniel would have, but I really don't think so."

"Why? What makes _you_ so sure?" She wanted to know.

"It's just the fact that the time ship is more your area than ours," he answered. "You know my inclinations are always to go in guns blazing. I think I would have proposed going to Egypt and turning it upside down until we found it and if we couldn't, I still don't think I would have thought of the time ship first," he further explained.

"It would have had too many constrictions on how I could act. I'm not saying that I would have been against it; I just don't think I would have proposed it, that's all. Especially not when you're always going on and on about how dangerous it could be," he finished with a shrug.

Sam had to think about that for a minute, and then had to concede that he made some sense. She might have been the one to suggest it after all. The General usually took what she said as gospel and wouldn't go against it, outside of extraordinary circumstances, and she didn't think these qualified.

"I must have been nuts," she half-muttered; the closest she would get to admitting that he was right. "Well, what's done is done and we ended up with a ZPM, so I guess I should just let it be, huh?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," he nodded. "These next few days are for relaxing, enjoying ourselves and talking to the guys about the changes that might be coming. We're still on for that, right?" He asked, turning to look at her.

"Yes, but with all the craziness, I haven't had time to tell you: Daniel ambushed me back in my lab two days ago," she told him. "He noticed that something was 'different' and wouldn't let me be until I came clean."

"And I guess that Teal'c was present too?" Jack asked.

"Yes, of course. But I'm sure he knew it before I said anything," she added.

"Wouldn't be surprised," he agreed. "There's not much that escapes his notice. Nor does it surprise me that Danny figured something was up; he's pretty observant himself – when he's not lost in his rocks, that is," he agreed with a grin.

"Yeah, so you're ok with them knowing?" Sam asked, a bit apprehensive.

"Sam," he told her seriously. "They've always known something was going on and I couldn't image not telling them. That is what this week is for after all. So, yeah I'm ok with it."

"Oh, good," she said, relieved. "I'll miss them," she added after a moment.

"Yeah, me too," he nodded. "That's why this week is so important."

"Yeah, except that they won't be here the full week, will they?" She asked with a smirk.

Jack half laughed and answered, "No, but you should have seen his face; he really wanted to stay home and at least begin the preliminary categorization of Katherine's things. I figured an extra day won't make much difference."

"It did to Teal'c. Didn't he stay with Daniel so he could avoid fishing for one more day?" Sam laughingly asked.

"No. He stayed so that Daniel wouldn't have to drive to the cabin by himself tomorrow." Jack answered, a bit sourly.

"Sure, Jack. Now I remember that that was it," but her tone made it clear she was just humoring him.

Jack just shook his head and muttered something about no one appreciating the fine art of fishing or his attempts to teach it.

Sam just laughed out loud again and realized that her headache was gone. She closed her eyes and relaxed against the seat. The rest of the drive was spent either in a comfortable silence or friendly bickering.

* * *

They arrived at the cabin late in the evening. As relaxed and comfortable as the ride had been, they were both tired. They had stopped in town to stock up on the stuff they had not brought from Colorado; after putting it away and fixing a nice, simple supper, they both decided that it was time for bed.

Jack was up and about bright and early the next day – the early bird gets the worm and all. He thought about waking Sam but decided to let her sleep in. The past few weeks had been hard on her and he was sure that she hadn't gotten anywhere near enough sleep.

He made himself a cup of coffee and went to sit in his favorite spot by the lake. 'Ah,' he thought to himself, 'this is the life. The only thing that could make this better would be to have Sam here.' And then he remembered she _was_ there and couldn't help the goofy grin _that_ thought elicited. Not only was Sam there, but the guys were showing up later that day; after so many years and so many tries, he'd finally got them all to come out – it really couldn't get better than that.

A couple of hours later, Jack heard Sam come out to the dock.

"Hey," she greeted him.

"Hey, how'd you sleep?" he asked, turning around to smile at her.

"Like a rock," she answered, smiling back. "Why didn't you wake me?" she wanted to know as she sat down next to him.

"Because you needed the sleep or you would have heard me and gotten up when I did," he explained.

She wanted to argue but knew that he spoke the truth – if she hadn't needed to sleep, she would have gotten up early. 'Oh, well,' she thought, 'this is my vacation, after all.'

"Did you eat breakfast or just drink some coffee?" she asked.

"Just drank a cup of coffee. Do you want some breakfast?" He asked her.

"Yes, it might be the clean air, but I'm hungry and want some pancakes," she answered, grinning.

"That sounds good and we have all the makings; let me just reel this in and I'll go fix them," he said, as he pushed himself from his chair.

"I can make them." Sam sort of protested.

Jack gave her a look and said, "Yes, I know you can _make_ them, but will they be edible?"

Sam made a face and said, "Ha, ha. I'll have you know that I can cook." She informed him haughtily.

"Uh, huh," he agreed and at her surprised look he continued, "You can cook incredible plans to defeat the Goa'uld, the replicators or any other alien, but a simple meal," and he stopped, as if to ponder that thought, "No, I don't think so." He finally said with great certainty.

Sam slapped his leg and said, "You are so _not_ funny. For your information, I make a mean . . ." and then she stopped, as she couldn't think what she could cook that was mean in a good way and not in a 'you call this food?' way.

"Yes?" Jack made a point of looking at his watch (or rather where his watch would have been if he had been wearing one), waited a few seconds and said, "I'm waiting," in an annoying sing-song voice.

"I make a mean ham and cheese sandwich." She finally declared, with triumph.

Since she did, he had to agreed, "Ok, I'll give you that. But you do know that making a sandwich is not really the same thing as cooking, right?"

"Close enough," she argued and then went on. "And anyway, I'm usually too busy saving the planet, not to mention the universe, to have the time to learn to cook."

"I never said you had to know how to cook," he argued as she got up and they started walking back to the cabin. "Actually if I remember correctly, it was you that began this whole 'I can cook' argument; all I said was 'I'll make the pancakes'," Jack finished, sounding very reasonable.

They had reached the cabin's door by this time and Sam just made non-committal noises as she preceded him into the cabin and led the way to the kitchen. Once there, Jack started making the pancakes and put on another pot of coffee and Sam set the table and then watched him cook – a most pleasant pastime in her opinion.

They had a nice, relaxed breakfast and after Sam did the dishes (he had cooked after all), they went back out to sit on the deck and 'fish.' They spent most of the morning in comfortable silence; enjoying the peacefulness of their surroundings and each other's company.

As Sam breathed in the fresh air, she felt all of her worries slowly melt away and she could understand why he loved being there so much. It was beautiful; one of the most beautiful places she'd been to, but it was more than the mere beauty. It was the feeling of serenity, of pureness. This was a place untouched by the concerns, hassles and worries of modern life; it was a place where a person could go and really rest, really get away from it all and in the process recharge oneself to continue with real life.

This was why they had fought the Goa'uld; not just this place, but the feelings of peace, purity and freedom – freedom to choose to just sit and do nothing. This was why they had given up any semblance of a normal life for the past eight years and why they had rarely, if ever, been able to share such moments.

But all that was in the past now; the Goa'uld _and_ the Replicators were no longer a threat. Finally after 8 long years and immeasurable loses, they had won; their duty was done and they could relax and enjoy the freedom that everyone else took for granted but for which they had tirelessly fought.

As she heard a car approaching, Sam took a big breath and said what she had been feeling, since the drive yesterday, but had not wanted to bring up, in case it ruined the mood, "This is nice." Had or had she not become a master at understatements? She thought with pride.

"Um," he agreed, even as he proudly contemplated that the fact that she had learned something besides military strategy from him.

"We should have done it sooner," there was a hint of regret in her voice.

"Yes, well. Let's not dwell." There was no point in it, in Jack's opinion – the past was the past, there was nothing they could do about it; all they could do was enjoy the present and plan for the future and that was exactly what he planned to do.

They turned to greet the guys, as they heard them approach, and a few seconds later they saw a fish jump out of the lake. They all looked at each other in surprise as they all knew that the lake had had no fish in it; Jack had even admitted it on the tape from the past.

Just as Sam opened her mouth to comment, Jack said, "close enough."

He knew what she was thinking but there was no way he would go all the way back three thousand years just because fish had suddenly appeared in his lake. God knew what would happen and how much they might mess up the timeline. If the look on Sam's face was any indication, she was considering the same thing and she ended up just nodding her head, agreeing to let it be.

Jack and Sam sat forward again as Daniel and Teal'c set up their lawn chairs as they exchanged greetings. After setting up his chair, Daniel took a couple of beers and brought them to Jack and Sam. "Here, guys."

"Thanks, Daniel." Sam said.

"Yeah, thanks, Danny boy." Jack agreed.

"No problem. So, guys what's up? Besides the fish that is, which you still haven't caught, huh?" Daniel said, grinning at his own cleverness.

"Funny, Danny." Jack answered, in a voice that clearly said it was anything but. "And anyway, as I have already told you, it's about the art of fishing and not just catching fish."

"Sure, Jack." Daniel replied, in the voice of some one humoring some one else.

"Ask Carter, Daniel; she gets it," Jack proposed, with a smug grin.

Daniel turned to look at Sam to see what she thought and found her with a surprised look on her face, "Sam?"

"Well, Daniel," she began, "I guess I'd have to agree with the General. It is definitely about the art of fishing."

No one looked more surprised than Jack that she had agreed with him. Of course, Sam didn't bother to explain that what she found relaxing was sitting there next to Jack and not necessarily fishing; they could be doing anything, as far as she was concerned, and she would still be happy.

"See, Daniel," Jack pointed out with an even smugger grin. "She gets it."

"Yeah, right, like she is a neutral party here," Daniel groused.

"Well, it's not like you're that neutral either, Daniel." Sam argued back.

"Should we get Teal'c's opinion, then?" Daniel asked.

But before Jack could answer, Sam said, "Why don't we just agree to disagree and leave it there?"

"Fine by me," answered Daniel, after he caught Sam's look.

Jack just shrugged and turned back to the lake.

Daniel grinned and went back to his seat. After a few minutes of silence he sighed and said, "This is nice," echoing what Sam had said a few minutes before. Jack and Sam just grinned at each other. "We should do this more often."

"Yeah, we should." Jack agreed, but then fell silent as the thought that that may not be possible as two of them would very probably not be living on Earth for quite a while.

That thought seemed to occur to everyone, as suddenly, a melancholy mood descended on them all. As always, however, Jack did his best to alleviate the suddenly down mood of the group.

"Hey, Danny boy, you didn't bring any of your rocks with you, did you?" he asked.

"No, Jack, I didn't," Daniel answered. "And they are not rocks but priceless artifacts!" Daniel corrected him exasperated; he didn't know how many times over the years they'd had that argument.

"Tometo, tomato." Jack said waving his hand, "same thing. I'm just glad you didn't bring any."

Daniel sighed heavily and patiently said, "It is not the same thing and I didn't bring any because I wouldn't put it past you to hide them, or worse, throw them in the lake."

Seeing that his little diversion had worked, as both Sam and Teal'c were wearing small smiles and Daniel was too irritated to be sad, he continued, "I would never throw your rocks in the lake, Danny." Jack said sincerely and heard an exasperated snort from his friend. "Though hiding them from you could be fun," he finished in a considering tone of voice.

"Come on, guys," Sam said, trying not to laugh, "you're disturbing the fish."

Both Jack and Daniel turned to look at her as if she were crazy. "What! It's a fact that noise disturbs fish."

"She's right, Danny," Jack agree, holding a finger to his lips and completely disregarding the fact that it was in fact him that had first baited the archeologist. "Hush."

Daniel opened his mouth, as if to retort, but then thought better of it and closed it. With a smile, as he realized what Jack had done, Daniel turned to the lake and sat back to enjoy the day and the company.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in relative silence as the four of them just sat back and enjoyed the peace and the comfort of being in each other's company. Each knowing that it might be a long time before they were able to do it again.

As the sun loomed low on the horizon, Jack got up and said, "Let's go kids. I think it's time to start dinner."

"What are we having for dinner, Jack?" Daniel asked, as he got up and stretched.

"What else, Danny? Grilled steaks, of course," Jack answered.

"Of course. What else would it be?" Daniel asked with a laugh, as he turned to follow Jack back to the cabin with Sam and Teal'c right next to him.

* * *

Dinner consisted of grilled steaks, baked potatoes and salad, with beer for Sam, Jack and Daniel and orange juice for Teal'c. As they finished dinner and he got up to take the dishes to the sink, Jack said, "Careful, Danny, we're getting up early tomorrow and a hang over won't excuse you."

"You are not funny, Jack, nor are you my mother." And to prove the point he took another sip of his beer. However, since he knew Jack would get him up early with or without a hangover, he only took a small sip before putting the bottle down. He then got up and walked over to the oven, to get the cake he and Teal'c had hidden there, when they had arrived at the cabin. They had known that the chances were good Jack would grill some steaks and that he wouldn't look in the oven.

Jack had turned to see what Daniel was up to and saw him take out a bakery box. His face lit up and he asked in a hopeful voice, "Cake?"

"Yep." And before Jack could ask, Daniel added, "chocolate."

Jack grinned delightedly and said, "sweet! What's the occasion?" He asked, as he took out the plates and forks and brought them to the table.

"What, you don't think that finally having us all here isn't enough reason for a celebration?" Daniel asked, as he served the cake.

Jack grinned, as he received his plate and answered, "yep, it definitely is."

"And if that wasn't enough," Daniel continued as he finished serving the cake. "We finally defeated the Goa'uld and the replicators and Earth is finally safe."

"There is that," Jack agreed, as he tasted the cake and closed his eyes to better savor the flavor.

After a few seconds of silent eating, Daniel ventured to say what had been on everyone's mind, "it could also be a goodbye cake. After all, who knows how long it'll be until we're all together again, with the war over we can all move on."

Sam and Jack looked at each other and realized that the guys had been thinking the same thing as them, which was not surprising as they'd spent the past eight years working as a closely knit unit – they had a tendency to think along the same lines.

Jack finished his cake and pushed his plate away before replying. "That was good cake, guys. Thanks for bringing it." He paused and took a big breath, "so, you guys thought about what you want to do, now that the war is over?"

"Yes, I want to go on the Daedalus to Atlantis," was Daniel's not so surprising answer.

"And I am going to Dakara to help run the new, now free Jaffa nation," was Teal'c, again, non-surprising answer.

"Yeah, we figured you guys would want that," was Jack's response.

"And what about you guys?" Daniel wanted to know. "What are your plans?"

"I'm going to go to Area 51," answered Sam.

"And I'll be heading Homeworld Security," added Jack.

There was a moment of stunned silence and then Daniel asked, "Hammond's job?" just to be sure.

"Yes. He's finally retiring and wanted me take over for him; said there was no one else he would trust with the job." Jack answered, with a shrug.

"Wow, that's a great honor and I'm sure you'll do great but isn't that in DC?" Daniel asked, frowning.

"Yes, it is," was the simple answer.

"That's a long way from the SGC," Daniel pointed out and Jack just shrugged again. Daniel then turned to Sam, "Area 51?" She nodded.

"You're both leaving the SGC?" Daniel couldn't really believe it; he knew they had to do something to be together but he hadn't thought that they'd both be leaving the SGC.

"Why are you so surprised, Daniel?" Sam asked. "You knew there'd be some changes."

"Yes, but I thought you'd get a presidential order or something; I mean, we've saved the planet _and_ the galaxy how many times now? I never thought you'd leave the SGC," Daniel said, still frowning.

"Presidential order?" Sam repeated. "Is that even possible?" She asked looking at Jack.

"Don't know." Jack shrugged. "Maybe, but Daniel, you said it yourself, the war is over and it's time we moved on. I think I can do more good in DC than in the SGC; like I said, Hammond is retiring for good this time and God knows who they'd appoint if I don't take over. At least this way, I can still look out for the program.

"Besides," he added with a frown of his own, "sitting in that chair, while everyone else gets to go off-world is . . ." he paused and raked his fingers through his hair, "well, it's hard, harder than I thought it'd be."

Daniel had known that seeing them go through the 'Gate' while he stayed behind, had been hard on Jack, but he didn't think going to DC would change that. "Do you really think going to DC would make it better? I mean not only do you hate paperwork, but Jack, you can't stand most politicians and DC is full of them. How are you going to cope?" Daniel asked, genuinely concern.

"I don't know if it'll be better, frankly I think I'll always miss not going through the 'Gate'," he admitted, "but, being in DC and not being the one to personally send other teams through, should make it easier. And," he added, "since none of you will be going through, that'll make it even easier. As to how I'll deal with the paperwork and the politicians, the same way I do it now – I'll tolerate it and them, until I don't, then I'll take a few days off and then go back to tolerate them again." Jack finished, with a shrug.

"You're sure?" At Jack's nod, Daniel turned back to Sam, "And you?"

"I'm sure too, Daniel. There's more to life than work." At that, all three of the guys looked at her like she'd just grown another head. "Yeah, I know, weird coming from me. But it's true, and it's about time I started living and enjoying life, don't you think?"

"Yes, I do. Well, looks like this is the end of an era." Daniel said and everyone agreed. "Then I guess a toast is in order." He raised his glass and said, "To hope."

Teal'c raised his and said, "To the future."

Sam raised hers and said, "To love."

Jack raised his and said, "To family."

They all looked at each other and as one said, "To SG1."


	9. Epilogue

**Te Quedaste**

**Disclaimer: **Still not mine, more's the pity.

**A/N: **So, here's the end. What did you think of the improved version? Oh, I also had **Te Amare** betaed, will be posting that one very, very soon. And for those that were reading **Life After the SGC**, good news - I'm almost done writing it. Shall be posting the last few chapters in the next few days too!! Hope you enjoyed this repost!!

**Epilogue**

_A couple of weeks later in the SGC embarkation room_

As he spoke, General Hammond looked at the sea of faces that were looking back at him and felt a rush of emotions come forth at the thousand and one memories they brought back.

He had spent seven of the most terrifying, and yet exhilarating, years of his life in this place. It had turned his life upside down and forced him to make decisions he had never in a million years thought he'd have to make and yet it had also introduced him to wonders the likes of which most people couldn't even dream of and to a bunch of extraordinary people, who in a very short time, became his family.

It had been hard to make the decision and stick with it, the thought of not seeing them again, of not knowing what they were doing, was extremely hard. But it was time; it was past time, and General George Hammond always knew when to leave a party.

After a last look around to memorize each and every face, General Hammond finished his remarks, "It has been my greatest privilege and honor to work with each and every one of you. I have never known a group of people more dedicated and I'll shall miss all of you. Thank you for some of the best times of my life."

He turned the podium over to the President to thunderous applause. Hammond had been a much liked and respected CO, and while they all liked O'Neill, they had also missed Hammond's calm and soothing presence. There was more than one damp eye in the group, as they realized General Hammond was leaving for good; the thought of the program without him was inconceivable to most.

They knew General O'Neill would be taking over for him and that he, as always, would have their six, but that meant that O'Neill would also be leaving and an SGC without him or anyone from SG1 was just _wrong_. Change was coming to the SGC and coming fast.

The President stepped up to the podium and looked at every one gathered. The fact that everyone on base was here to say goodbye to two of their leaders spoke volumes for the loyalty those two leaders inspired.

"First, I want to thank each of you for all the hard work and sacrifices you have made in the past eight years. Your dedication and bravery is the reason we're all standing here today. You've saved not only this planet, but the whole galaxy, more than once and we are all in your debt. Nothing I, or this country could do, would ever even begin to repay everything you've given us; nor would it give back everything you've lost. All we, _I_, can do is thank you and hope that we never again find ourselves in this situation. But while the Goa'uld war is over, the SGC is still needed and it will continue its mission of exploration – it will however do it under new leadership.

"The SGC has had two exemplary CO's. One, Gen. Hammond, is retiring and we are all going to be the lesser because of his absence. The second and more controversial CO," here there was some laughter, as they all knew that Jack liked nothing more than to stir up trouble, "General O'Neill will be moving to take up Gen. Hammond's job as Head of Homeworld Security in Washington, DC. A position of great power and responsibility and one in which I'm sure he'll excel.

"We've all gathered here say our goodbyes to these extraordinary men as they embark on their new paths. But before we go on to the feast, which I'm sure will include cake," again everyone laughed, it seemed Gen. O'Neill's addiction to cake was known even in the White House. "I want to present Gen. O'Neill with something. General, will you please come up?" He asked, turning to look at Jack.

Jack looked surprised, as he left his place behind the president, where he'd been standing next to Sam and the rest of SG1, and marched up to where the President was standing. He stood at attention in front of the President and waited to see what was going on.

"General O'Neill, for your bravery, dedication to duty and your sacrifices above and beyond the call of duty, it is my honor to promote you to the rank of Major General from this day on, with all the duties and privileges of said rank."

Hammond stepped up and, together with the President, pinned on Jack's second star. He also greatly enjoyed the dumbfounded look on Jack's face. He stepped back when the star was secured and both he and the President saluted the newly promoted 2 star general.

Despite Jack's surprise, he was military through and through and automatically returned a smart salute. That was enough to break the assembly out of their stunned surprise and a wave of applause and whistles soon followed.

The President shook Jack's hand and congratulated him, "Congratulations, Major General."

"Thank you, Mr. President." He then turned and shook hands with Hammond, "Thank you, sir."

"You don't have to call me 'sir' anymore, Jack. Not only am I retired, but we're the same rank now." He then grinned and asked, "Took you totally by surprise, didn't it?"

"Yes, s. . . I mean George," Jack answered, still looking flabbergasted. "Wasn't expecting it at all. I mean I only made general last year, didn't think another promotion would come this soon. I actually never expected to make it to Brigadier General let alone Major General, to tell you the truth," he admitted with a self-deprecating grin.

"I know, Jack," the President said, "but you deserve it. I can't think of anyone who deserves it more than you."

"He's right, you know. You really deserve it," Sam said, as she, Daniel and Teal'c came to stand next to Jack and Hammond. "Congratulations, sir. I'm very happy for you."

"Yeah, Jack. Congratulations, you definitely deserve it." Daniel shook Jack's hand, grinning as he added, "you should have seen your face when the President called you up, Jack. Hilarious."

"I also offer my congratulations, O'Neill. It is a most appropriate gesture." Teal'c said, inclining his head in Jack's direction.

"Thanks Danny, Teal'c," he nodded to the guys before turning to Sam. "Carter, didn't your transfer come through this morning? And didn't I just get promoted to Head of Homeworld Security?" At Sam's "yes, sir" Jack asked, "Then what's with the 'sir'?"

"You're right, Jack." Sam said, as she took a step forward and into Jack's personal space. "Congratulations, Jack. I'm very proud of you." Then she put her arms around his neck and kissed him on the mouth in front of Hammond, the President and the whole of the SGC.

She had intended for it to be a brief kiss, more a symbolic gesture than anything else. Jack, however, had other ideas. He put one of his arms around her waist, the other around her neck before dipping and kissing her deeply – just like in the loop.

As Teal'c saw it, he remembered that particular loop and couldn't help breaking into a huge grin.

The sight of the base's former CO and his former 2IC kissing produced the second stunned silence of the day. This silence, however, was much shorter than the first one.

While everyone was surprised that they would kiss in public, everyone knew of their feelings for one another, and thus, no one was surprised at the fact that they were kissing.

The hoots, hollers, applause and whistles started only a few seconds later. Led by none other than Daniel himself. The President and Hammond just smiled and thought to themselves, 'it's about time.'

Jack and Sam, though, were too wrapped up in kissing, to pay attention to what everyone around them was doing; if they hadn't, they would have been surprised at the number of bets their kissing settled. A few moments, or possibly hours, later (who could really tell?) they broke apart. They looked into each other's eyes and in the same breath said, "I love you."

**The End**


End file.
